Page images
PDF
EPUB

her hand, the skill and courage with which she assisted his escape, — we have already seen. Then came her second marriage with her neighbor Phaltiel, her exile with him across the Jordan, his bitter lamentation when on the border of their common tribe he was parted from her at Bahurim, the probable estrangement between her and David, and the final breach when her regal pride and his eager devotion were brought into collision on the day of his entrance into Jerusalem. Whether, according to Jewish tradition, she returned to Phaltiel, or whether, as the sacred narrative seems to imply, she remained secluded within the palace, her influence henceforth ceased.

1

The King's numerous concubines were placed together in his own house. But the six wives wives and whom he had brought from his wanderings and concubines. from Hebron-to whom he had now added a seventh, Bathsheba (if not more 2), lived, as it would seem, with their children, each in separate establishments of their own.3 With them, as we have seen, there lived on terms of intimacy their cousins, who stood to them, however, from their superior age, rather in the relation of uncles. Each of the princes had his royal mule.' The princesses were distinguished by the long sleeves of their robes.

The eldest of the Princes was Amnon, the son of

Ahinoam, whom the King cherished as the heir Amnon. to the throne, with an affection amounting almost to awe. His intimate friend in the family was his

1 2 Sam. xv. 16. That the ten left behind in Jerusalem were but a part of the whole establishment, appears from xix. 5.

2 Sam. v. 13; 1 Chr. xiv. 3.

3 2 Sam. xiii. 7, 20.

4 Ibid. 29.

5 Ibid. 18 (Hebr.); comp. Cant. v 3, and see Josephus, Ant. vii. 8, § 1. 6 Ibid. 5, 21 (LXX.).

cousin Jonadab, one of those characters1 who in great houses pride themselves on being acquainted and on dealing with all the secrets of the family. This was one group in the royal circle. Another consisted of the two children of Maacah, the princess of Geshur, Absalom and his sister Tamar, the only two of

Absalom.

purely royal descent. In all of them the beauty for which the house of Jesse was renowned — David's brothers, David himself, Adonijah, Solomon — seemed to be concentrated. Absalom especially was in this respect the very flower and pride of the whole nation. "In all Israel there was none to be praised for "his beauty," like him. "From the crown of his head "to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him." The magnificence of his hair was something wonderful. Year by year or month by month its weight was known and counted. He had a sheep-farm near Ephraim or Ephron, a few miles to the northeast of Jerusalem, and another property near the Jordan Valley, where he had erected a monument to keep alive the remembrance of his name, from the melancholy feeling that the three sons who should have preserved his race had died before him. He had, however, one daughter, who afterwards carried on the royal line in her child, called, after her grandmother, Maacah, and destined to play a conspicuous part in the history of the divided kingdom.3 This daughter was named Tamar, after her

2

aunt. The elder Tamar, like her brother and Tamar. her niece, was remarkable for her extraordinary beauty, whence perhaps she derived her name, "the "palm-tree," the most graceful of oriental trees. For this, and for the homely art of making a peculiar kind'

1 2 Sam. xiii. 4, 5, 32, 35.

2 Ibid 23, xviii. 18.

See Lecture XXXVI.

4 2 Sam. xiii.; 1 xiv. 27.
5 2 Sam. xiii. 6, 8, 9.

of cakes, the Princess had acquired a renown which reached beyond the seclusion of her brother's house to all the circle of the royal family.

There had been no cloud to disturb the serene relations of these different groups till the fatal day when Amnon, who had long wasted away, grown "morning "by morning paler and paler, leaner and leaner," from a desperate passion for his half-sister Tamar, - at last contrived, through the management of Jonadab, to accomplish his evil design. It was a moment long remembered as "the beginning of woes," when on his brutal hatred succeeding to his brutal passion, she found herself driven out of the house, and in a frenzy of grief and indignation tore off the sleeves from her royal robes, and, with her bare arms, clasped on her head the handfuls of ashes which she had snatched from the ground, and rushed to and fro through the streets screaming aloud, till she encountered her brother Absalom, and by him was taken into his own house. The King was afraid or unwilling to punish the crime of the heir to the throne. But on Absalom, as her brother, devolved, according to Eastern1 notions, the dreadful duty, the frightful pleasure, of avenging his sister's wrong. All the Princes were invited by him to a pas toral festival at his country-house, and there Murder of Amnon was slain by his brother's retainers. Amnon. There was a general alarm. It would seem as if there was something desperate in Absalom's character which made those around him feel that there was an immeasurable vista of vengeance opened. The other Princes rushed to their mules and galloped back to Jerusalem. The exaggerated news had already reached their father that all had perished. Jonadab reassured

[blocks in formation]

him. Still, the truth was dark enough; and in the presence of a loss which appears to have been deeply felt, not only by the King, but by the whole family, Absalom was forced to retire to exile beyond the limits of Palestine, to his father-in-law's court at Geshur.

But much as the King had loved Amnon, he loved Absalom more: Joab, always loyal, always ready, saw that he only needed an excuse to recall the absent son, and by a succession of devices, Absalom was brought back first to his country property, and then to Jerusalem

Conspiracy

itself. But meanwhile, he himself had been of Absalom. alienated from David by his long exile. He found himself virtually chief of the King's sons. That strength and violence of will which made him terrible among his brethren was now to vent itself against his father. He courted popularity by constantly appearing in the royal seat of judgment, in the gateway of Jerusalem. He affected royal state by the unusual display of chariots and war-horses, and runners to precede him.2 Under pretext of a pilgrimage to Hebron, possibly as the Patriarchal sanctuary, perhaps only as his own birthplace, he there set up his claims to the throne, and became suddenly the head of a formidable revolt. In that ancient capital of the tribe of Judah, he would find adherents jealous of their own elected king's absorption into the nation at large. And not far off, amongst the southern hills, in Giloh, dwelt the renowned Ahithophel, wisest of all the Israelite statesmen. According to the traditional interpretation of several of the Psalms, he was in the closest confidence with David, though, if we may trust the indications of the history, he had, through

1 See the comments of Thenius.
2 Sam. xv. 1. The date of "forty"

[ocr errors]

years in verse 7, should probably be
"four." See Ewald, iii. 217, 227.
3 Ps. xli., 9; lv. 12-14, 21.

the wrongs of his granddaughter Bathsheba, the deepest personal reasons for enmity.

It was apparently early on the morning of the day after he had received the news of the rebellion that the King left the city of Jerusalem. There is no single day1 in the Jewish history of which so elaborate an account remains as of this memorable flight. There is none, we may add, that combines so many of David's characteristics, his patience, his high-spirited religion, his generosity, his calculation: we miss only his daring courage. Was it crushed, for the moment, by the weight of parental grief, or of bitter remorse?

3

Every stage of the mournful procession was marked by some peculiar incident. He left the city, Flight of accompanied by his whole court. None of his David. household remained, except ten of the women of the harem, whom he sent back, apparently to occupy the Palace. The usual array of mules and asses was left behind. They were all on foot. The first halt was at a spot on the outskirts of the city, known as "the Far House." The second was by a solitary olive-tree that stood by the road to the wilderness of the Jordan. Here the long procession formed itself. The body-guard of Philistines moved at the head: then followed the great mass of the regular soldiery: next came the high officers of the court; and last, immediately before the King himself, the six hundred warriors, his ancient1 companions, with their wives and children. Amongst these David observed Ittai of Gath,

1 Strange that it should have been reserved for Ewald (iii. 228-235) to have first dwelt on this remarkable fact. In what follows I am indebted to him at every turn.

Ittai.

22 Sam. xv. 17; A. V " a place that was far off."

3 2 Sam. xv. 18 (LXX.).

4 Ewald, iii. 177 note. According to the probable reading of Gibborim for Gittim.

« PreviousContinue »