Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 20:3
And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women [his] concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.
3. David’s return to Jerusalem
3. living in widowhood ] Either in widowhood for life, or as the Targum explains it, in widowhood while their husband was still alive. Since they had been appropriated by Absalom, they could no longer be regarded as members of the royal harem, nor could they be set at liberty.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. The ten women] He could not well divorce them; he could not punish them, as they were not in the transgression; he could no more be familiar with them, because they had been defiled by his son; and to have married them to other men might have been dangerous to the state: therefore he shut them up and fed them – made them quite comfortable, and they continued as widows to their death.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Put them in ward; partly, because they had not vigorously opposed Absaloms lustful desire, as they should have done, even with the hazard of their lives; and partly, lest the sight of them should renew the memory of Absaloms filthiness, and of their own and Davids reproach, which it was fit to bury in-perpetual oblivion; and partly, because it might appear incestuous to have to do with those who had been defiled by his own son; and partly, because as David would not, so it was not now convenient that any other man should have any conjugal conversation with them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. the king took the ten women hisconcubinesJewish writers say that the widowed queens of Hebrewmonarchs were not allowed to marry again but were obliged to pass therest of their lives in strict seclusion. David treated his concubinesin the same manner after the outrage committed on them by Absalom.They were not divorced, for they were guiltless; but they were nolonger publicly recognized as his wives; nor was their confinement toa sequestered life a very heavy doom, in a region where women havenever been accustomed to go much abroad.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And David came to his house at Jerusalem,…. His palace there, which was in that part of the city called the fort of Zion, and city of David:
and the king took the ten women [his] concubines, whom he had left to keep the house; when he fled from Jerusalem because of Absalom, 2Sa 15:16;
and put them in ward; partly as a punishment for easily yielding to the lust of Absalom, and partly that they might not be seen, which would bring to remembrance his sin:
and fed them; he did not put them to death, nor put them away, but kept them thus confined, and made a proper provision for them, not suffering them to marry any other, and be maintained by them:
but went not in unto them: into their apartments to lie with them, having been defiled by his son, 2Sa 16:22;
so they were shut up unto the day of their death; kept in the ward till they died:
living in widowhood; neither used by the king as his concubines, as they had been before, nor suffered to many any other; or “in the widowhood of life” o, which is so expressed, to distinguish it from widowhood made by death; this was such sort of widowhood as obtained while their husband was living; so the Targum,
“widows of their husband alive,”
or remaining.
o “in viduitate vitae”, Pagninus, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.
2Sa. 20:3. Living in widowhood. Lit. In widowhood of life. Probably meaning so long as their lifetime, or it may mean during the lifetime of David. They were not divorced, for they were guiltless; but they were no longer publicly recognised as Davids wives; nor was their confinement to a sequestered life a very heavy doom in a region where women have never been accustomed to go much abroad. (Jamieson).
2Sa. 20:4. Said to Amasa. Thus appointing him to the position which he has promised him in 2Sa. 19:13.
2Sa. 20:5. He tarried. Either because he met with distrust and opposition among the people, and could not so soon execute his commission; or, because he did not wish to make haste, and nourished in his breast traitorous designs. (Erdmann).
2Sa. 20:6. Abishai. Joabs was still Davids official commander-in-chief, but David speaks to Abishai rather than to him, because he wished to have nothing to do with the latter on account of his crabbedness, and further knew that be would take Amasas appointment ill. (Erdmann). Servants, soldiers. The standing army in distinction from the levy of the people for which Amasa was sent. (Erdmann). Escape us. The verb means to take away, and the phrase has been variously rendered, escape, turn away, and tear out, our eye. This latter rendering (adopted by Keil, Thenius and others) is taken to be equivalent to severely injure us. But it seems more probable that one of the other readings is more correct, and that the expression means to elude the sightto escape.
2Sa. 20:7. Joabs men. Some have thought it strange that those who went out with Abishai should be so designated, and have, therefore, without sufficient reason, substituted Joabs name for that of his brother in 2Sa. 20:6. But from what follows, Joab appears to have marched with his brother to the field. Cherethites. etc. (see on 2Sa. 8:18). The mighty men. Gibborim. The six hundred heroes mentioned in 2Sa. 15:18. (Erdmann.)
2Sa. 20:8. The great stone, etc. Doubtless an isolated rock of considerable size. Gibeon lay north-west of Jerusalem, in the mountains of Ephraim, whither Sheba (2Sa. 20:2), had gone. (Erdmann). Went before, rather came towards. Joabs garment. The minute description of Joabs military dress and arms is intended to make it clear how he could suddenly kill Amasa without anyones noticing his purpose. (Erdmann). His loins. This statement receives ample illustration from the Assyrian sculptures on which warriors are depicted, their swords not upon the thigh, but on the loin or side. (Jamieson.) Fell out. Josephus explains that Joab purposely allowed it to drop out so that stooping to raise it at the moment when he saluted Amasa, he might hold it naked in his hand ready for action, without exciting suspicion.
2Sa. 20:9. By the beard. A mode of salutation in the East. Kissing the beard is also a token of great respect and goodwill. My brother. He was his first cousin. (Biblical Commentary).
2Sa. 20:10. Fifth rib. Rather the abdomen. (Keil). Joab and Abishai. The connection of the two favour the view that Joab had gone out at the head of the body of troops under Abishai. (Erdmann).
2Sa. 20:11. By him, i.e., Amasa, no doubt by Joabs command. He that favoureth. etc. This was said to the men whom Amasa had gathered, and who came on ignorant at first of their leaders fall, and then of the cause of his death. This plan of Joab identifies his cause with that of David.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.2Sa. 20:3-13
DAVIDS RETURN TO JERUSALEM AND THE MURDER OF AMASA
I. The consequences of violating Gods laws are not in this life confined to him who violate them. David had no sooner returned to his city and his palace than he found himself confronted with a difficulty arising out of a double transgression. As we have before had occasion to remark (see on 1Sa. 1:2, etc.), polygamy was a violation of Gods intention with regard to marriage, which brought great sorrow upon David and upon others. The practice of concubinage seems a much farther remove from the Divine ideal, and a nearer approach to the customs of the heathen nations, and must in any case have often been felt to be a hardship by the woman. But Davids great transgression entailed upon the women of his harem a heavier penalty than was common to such a position. It it true they were Eastern women, and therefore less alive to their humiliation by Absalom than women of this age and nation would be in similar circumstances, but they were women, and we have no reason to suppose they were entirely destitute of the instincts and desires proper to their sex. Upon them the consequences of Davids transgression fell very heavily, and endured to the end of life. The certainty that in this sense, as in many others, no man liveth to himself, ought to be a strong motive to keep us from forbidden paths.
II. The consciousness of even pardoned guilt makes one in power weak and cowardly towards similar offenders. One of the most bitter elements in Davids cup of affliction after his fall must have been to see his own evil deeds so faithfully imitated by those around him, and to feel unable to deal out the punishment they deserved. Amnon closely copied his adultery and Absalom his act of murder, without his being able to deal with either as he could have done if he had himself been innocent. And now when he probably hoped he had reaped the last of the harvest from that fatal sowing of sin, he sees his deed reproduced by Joab with startling similarity. The master had not scrupled to remove by violent means one who stood in his way, and it could not be expected that his less scrupulous servant would falter on the same line of action. Truly Joab had known the way before (2Sa. 3:27), but he could be bolder now that David had gone the same road. David had been able to declare himself guiltless before the Lord from the blood of Abner, but he is silent concerning the death of Amasa, remembering without doubt how he had once commanded Joab to commit as cowardly a crime. It must have surely been this sense of blood-guiltiness which sealed his lips at this time, and almost compelled him henceforth to accept in silence whatever measures Joab thought fit to adopt, and to leave to his son the odious task of reckoning with him.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(3) Living in widowhood.This was the necessary result, under the system of polygamy, of what had happened. The clause may be understood as in widowhood of life, as in our version, or in widowhood of the living, i.e., while their husband was living, as in the Chaldee.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Put them in ward Shut them up in a place of security, where no one could come at them.
Fed them Provided them with temporal comforts. “He could not well divorce them; he could not punish them, as they were not in the transgression; he could no more be familiar with them, because they had been defiled by his son; and to have married them to other men might have been dangerous to the state.” Clarke.
On His Arrival In Jerusalem From Gilgal David Deals With The Problem Of The Concubine Wives With Whom Absalom Had Sexual Relations ( 2Sa 20:3 ).
Meanwhile, while much of this was going on, David had moved on to Jerusalem, and once there he had to decide what to do about the concubine wives with whom Absalom had publicly had sexual relations. It was in fact a tricky problem because technically the concubines were now Absalom’s former wives. Thus for David to have had further relations with them would probably have been thought of as having sex within the forbidden degrees (something which, of course, Absalom had done – Lev 20:11), even though strictly speaking a father lying with his son’s wife was not included in the list. It was certainly not something which David felt like risking just because of a few concubines.
This event is included here because it was David’s final act of removing all trace of Absalom’s rebellion from Jerusalem, for these concubines had unwittingly become an important symbol of Absalom’s rule. They were, however, also dynamite, for as the former king’s widows they could not be available for remarriage. This was why, although they were well treated and looked after, they had to be kept under careful guard. It was recognised that anyone who married one of these concubine widows would be able, should they so wish, to claim direct connection with the throne.
Analysis.
a b And he provided them with sustenance, but did not go into them (2Sa 20:3 b).
a So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood (2Sa 20:3 c).
Not that in ‘a’ David ‘put them in ward’, and in the parallel he shut them up to the day of their deaths. Centrally he provided them with ample sustenance.
2Sa 20:3 a
‘And David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward.’
When David arrived back in his palace in Jerusalem, which he had left in the care of ten of his concubines, he put the ten in safe and sheltered accommodation. Due to what his son had done he could no longer see them as available to him because they had become his son’s wives, and therefore untouchable by him. But he nevertheless treated them with due honour. However, in view of their status they had also to be closely watched and guarded. Marrying someone who had been so closely connected with both the king, and then the rival king, could have given people ideas, and that could not be allowed (compare 1Ki 2:22).
2Sa 20:3 b
‘And he provided them with sustenance, but did not go into them.’
In that sheltered accommodation he provided them with ample food and drink, and no doubt forms of entertainment, but abstained from having sexual relations with them because they were now his son’s widows, something which was almost certain to have put them in the eyes of many people within what would have been seen as the forbidden degrees (it was forbidden for a son to have sexual relations with his father’s wives, and probably the reverse therefore held true). It was not a matter of being unkind to them, but of political necessity.
2Sa 20:3 c
‘So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.’
Thus as royal widows they were provided with all the comforts under the king’s protection, while at the same time being kept under close guard. This does not necessarily signify that they were not allowed out, veiled and suitably guarded. It only indicated that they had to be constantly watched. The necessity for this arose because, as we have already seen, to have allowed anyone else to have sexual relations with them could have endangered the throne and complicated the succession.
We must not necessarily feel that they had been hard done by. They had simply been unfortunate. And yet we must remember that they would have had every luxury, would been provided with amusements, and would probably have had as much freedom as most highbred women of the day. All that they had really lost was a place in the official harem, and an occasional night with David, and even that would not have been guaranteed, even if Absalom had not ‘defiled’ them. Indeed many probably envied them greatly. Their great loss would be in the fact that they could no longer have children.
2Sa 20:3. The king took the ten women his concubines, &c. As soon as David arrived at Jerusalem, one of his first cares was to remove those concubines, or secondary wives, whom Absalom had so scandalously abused. He ordered them, therefore, to be separated from the palace, and maintained in a proper place of seclusion and retirement, where they ended their lives as widows. The Jews say, that the widows of their kings could never marry again. David treated them as widows, and allowed them not to appear again in public, that there might be as little renewal as possible in the minds of men of the opprobrious infamy of his son. Mahomet, who borrowed a variety of his laws from the Jews, forbade his wives to marry again after his death. See Selden, Uxor. Heb. lib. 1: cap. 10.
REFLECTIONS.When men’s spirits are exasperated in popular tumults, some crafty and ambitious head fails not to improve the circumstances for his own advancement.
1. Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, a man of Belial, thinking that he might now step into the throne, widens the breach into rebellion. Since Judah seemed to engross the king, he advises the men of Israel to renounce the ten parts they claimed, and to have no part in David. The trumpet is blown, and Sheba now is their leader. Note; (1.) We must not promise ourselves long peace here below. Whilst the old enmity reigns in the heart of the sinner, new storms will arise. (2.) Foolish quarrels have dangerous consequences. (3.) We are apt to be swinging to extremes; and those who seemed the most zealous friends sometimes turn the bitterest enemies.
2. David proceeds to Jerusalem, and his first care is to shut up his concubines, whom Absalom had defiled, Note; Obscure retirement is the fittest place for those who have made themselves publicly scandalous.
(3) And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.
This act was highly proper, on account of Absalom’s incestuous conduct. Alas! what evils have sprung out of the corrupt lusts of our poor, fallen nature!
2Sa 20:3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women [his] concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.
Ver. 3. And David came to his house at Jerusalem. ] Which had been in his absence basely defiled, and was therefore by him newly dedicated. Psa 30:1 , title
And put them in ward. a Godw., Catal., 62.
ten women: 2Sa 15:16, 2Sa 16:21, 2Sa 16:22
and put: The confinement and retired maintenance of these women was the only measure which in justice and prudence could be adopted. In China, when an emperor dies, all his women are removed to an edifice called the palace of chastity, situated within the palace, in which they are shut up for the remainder of their lives.
ward: Heb. an house of ward, Gen 40:3
shut: Heb. bound
living in widowhood: Heb. in widowhood of life
Reciprocal: Gen 35:22 – lay with Gen 38:26 – And he knew Jdg 19:1 – a concubine Psa 30:1 – at the 1Co 5:1 – that one
2Sa 20:3. But went not in unto them He looked upon them as become impure to him, having been defiled by his son. They were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood Being royal wives, it was not proper they should be married to any one else, and therefore David did not give them a bill of divorce, but shut them up close, that no man might have converse with them. And indeed it would not have been prudent to have let them be so much as seen abroad, as that would have renewed the remembrance of Absaloms crime.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments