Read 2 Samuel 15 and 16 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions:
2 Sam 15:1-6 {p} Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel
2 Sam 15:7-9 {p} Absalom asks/ receives permission to go to Hebron to pay a vow to YHVH
2 Sam 15:10-18 {s} Absalom declares himself king in Hebron/ flight of David + his servants from Jerusalem
2 Sam 15:19-24 {s} David + servants + people cross over the brook Kidron toward the wilderness
2 Sam 15:25-26 {s} David to Zadok: Return the ark to Jerusalem; if it be the Lord’s will, I will see it again
2 Sam 15:27-37 {s} David sent Zadok + Hushai back to Jerusalem, to be his agents until he should return
2 Sam 16:1-9 {s} Ziba returns kindness to David/ Mephibosheth + Shimei return evil to David
2 Sam 16:10 {s} David: Let Shimei curse, for perhaps it is from YHVH
2 Sam 16:11-13a {s} David: my own son seeks my life, so let him curse; perhaps YHVH will repay me good for evil
2 Sam 16:13b {p} Shimei cursed the king + threw stones + kicked up dust as he went
2 Sam 16:14-19 {p} Absalom enters Jerusalem as king; accepts Hushai’s service as counselor
2 Sam 16:20-23 {s} Ahithophel’s counsel: Make Absalom abhorrant to his father by going in to his concubines
The strong themes:
2 Sam 14:31-15:6 {s+p} David restores Absalom to his heart, but Absalom stole the hearts of Israel
2 Sam 15:7-9 {p} Absalom asks/ receives permission to go to Hebron to pay a vow to YHVH
2 Sam 15:10-16:13b {sx7+p} Absalom’s treason/ he + the house of Saul return evil for good
2 Sam 16:14-19 {p} Absalom enters Jerusalem as king; accepts Hushai’s service as counselor
2 Sam 15:31-16:23 forms a chiastic structure:
1a) 2 Sam 15:31, David’s prayer: Turn Ahithophel’s counsel to Absalom into foolishness;
1b) 2 Sam 15:32-37a, David sends Hushai back to Jerusalem to act as his agent before Absalom;
1c) 2 Sam 15:37b {s} And Absalom came into Jerusalem;
1d) 2 Sam 16:1-4, Ziba returns kindness by bringing refreshment for David + his people;
1e) 2 Sam 16:5-8, Shimei of the house of Saul cursed King David as he went;
1f) 2 Sam 16:9 {s} Abishai asks permission of David to return Shimei’s evil to him;
1g) 2 Sam 16:10 {s} David: Let him curse; perhaps YHVH has said to him, ‘Curse David;’
central axis) 2 Sam 16:11a, David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite?”
2g) 2 Sam 16:11b, David: Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the Lord has ordered him;
2f) 2 Sam 16:12-13a {s} David: May YHVH repay me with good for his cursing this day;
2e) 2 Sam 16:13b {p} Shimei followed along with King David and cursed as he went;
2d) 2 Sam 16:14, The king + his people became weary; so they refreshed themselves there;
2c) 2 Sam 16:15, Absalom + the men of Israel + Ahithophel came to Jerusalem;
2b) 2 Sam 16:16-19 {p} Absalom receives Hushai’s service;
2a) 2 Sam 16:20-23 {s} Ahithophel’s advice to Absalom fulfills Nathan’s prophecy.
The chiastic structure may continue on backwards and forwards from both sides, as the last structure ended at 2 Sam 14:27. But we won’t know until we get into tomorrow’s chapters.
What stood out to me today is the theme of repaying kindness for kindness, evil for evil, and kindness for evil or evil for kindness. While David was an outlaw and Saul was hunting him, he consistently repaid kindness for evil, which Saul testified to more than once. This, I believe, is one of the characteristics of God, which made David a man after God’s own heart.
Ziba, Saul’s servant, returned kindness to David, but both members of the house of Saul, Mephibosheth and Shimei, rejoiced to see the trouble which had come upon David and took advantage of it. David had consistently shown every kindness he could to the house of Saul, as it was normal in the ancient days, when a new dynasty arose, to seek out all members of the old dynasty to wipe them out, to prevent exactly these kinds of insurrections against their rule.
But YHVH Himself repays kindness for evil:
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Rom 5:6-8
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” Luk 6:27-36
Conversely, if you do evil to those who do evil to you (as Abishai asked permission of David to do to Shimei), what credit is that to you, for that is what sinners do. But the sons of the Most High return good for evil, just as the Most High Himself does.
In this trial which came upon David, we can see him return to his first nature, his true nature, from which he strayed during the Bathsheba/ Uriah incident. Adversity did not send him further along the wayward path, as it did for Saul, but instead it revealed how deeply David’s repentance and restoration had gone — which is always the nature of trials. They bring to light and strengthen and establish whatever is the hidden root. May I, like You, return good for evil, and praise You when You refine me, Father, and not give place to bitterness, in faith in the name of Yeshua! Amen! ♥
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