CONCERNING THE INSURRECTION OF ABSALOM AGAINST DAVID AND CONCERNING AHITHOPHEL AND HUSHAI; AND CONCERNING ZIBA AND SHIMEI; AND HOW AHITHOPHEL HANGED HIMSELF. FJAJ 7.46
1. NOW Absalom, upon this his success with the king, procured to himself
a great many horses, and many chariots, and that in a little time also.
He had moreover fifty armor-bearers that were about him; and he came early
every day to the king's palace, and spake what was agreeable to such as
came for justice and lost their causes, as if that happened for want of
good counselors about the king, or perhaps because the judges mistook in
that unjust sentence they gave; whereby he gained the good-will of them
all
He told them, that had he but such authority committed to him, he
would distribute justice to them in a most equitable manner
When he had
made himself so popular among the multitude, he thought he had already
the good-will of the people secured to him; but when four years (16)
This is one of the best corrections that Josephus's copy affords us of
a text that in our ordinary copies is grossly corrupted. They say that
this rebellion of Absalom was forty years after what went before, (of his
reconciliation to his father,) whereas the series of the history shows
it could not be more than four years after it, as here in Josephus; whose
number is directly confirmed by that copy of the Septuagint version whence
the Armenian translation was made, which gives us the small number of four
years.
had passed since his father's reconciliation to him, he came to him, and
besought him to give him leave to go to Hebron, and pay a sacrifice to
God, because he vowed it to him when he fled out of the country
So when
David had granted his request, he went thither, and great multitudes came
running together to him, for he had sent to a great number so to do. FJAJ 7.47
2. Among them came Ahithophel the Gilonite, a counsellor of David's,
and two hundred men out of Jerusalem itself, who knew not his intentions,
but were sent for as to a sacrifice
So he was appointed king by all of
them, which he obtained by this stratagem
As soon as this news was brought
to David, and he was informed of what he did not expect from his son,
he was aftrighted at this his impious and bold undertaking, and wondered
that he was so far from remembering how his offense had been so lately
forgiven him, that he undertook much worse and more wicked enterprises;
first, to deprive him of that kingdom which was given him of God; and secondly,
to take away his own father's life
He therefore resolved to fly to the
parts beyond Jordan: so he called his most intimate friends together, and
communicated to them all that he had heard of his son's madness
He committed
himself to God, to judge between them about all their actions; and left
the care of his royal palace to his ten concubines, and went away from
Jerusalem, being willingly accompanied by the rest of the multitude, who
went hastily away with him, and particularly by those six hundred armed
men, who had been with him from his first flight in the days of Saul
But
he persuaded Abiathar and Zadok, the high priests, who had determined to
go away with him, as also all the Levites, who were with the ark, to stay
behind, as hoping that God would deliver him without its removal; but he
charged them to let him know privately how all things went on; and he had
their sons, Ahimmaz the son of Zadok, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar,
for faithful ministers in all things; but Ittai the Gitrite went out with
him whether David would let him or not, for he would .have persuaded him
to stay, and on that account he appeared the more friendly to him
But
as he was ascending the Mount of Olives barefooted, and all his company
were in tears, it was told him that Ahithophel was with Absalom, and was
of his side
This hearing augmented his grief; and he besought God earnestly
to alienate the mind of Absalom from Ahithophel, for he was afraid that
he should persuade him to follow his pernicious counsel, for he was a prudent
man, and very sharp in seeing what was advantageous
When David was gotten
upon the top of the mountain, he took a view of the city; and prayed to
God with abundance of tears, as having already lost his kingdom; and here
it was that a faithful friend of his, whose name was Hushai, met him
When
David saw him with his clothes rent, and having ashes all over his head,
and in lamentation for the great change of affairs, he comforted him, and
exhorted him to leave off grieving; nay, at length he besought him to go
back to Absalom, and appear as one of his party, and to fish out the secretest
counsels of his mind, and to contradict the counsels of Ahithophel, for
that he could not do him so much good by being with him as he might
by being with Absalom
So he was prevailed on by David, and left him, and
came to Jerusalem, whither Absalom himself came also a little while afterward. FJAJ 7.48
3. When David was gone a little farther, there met him Ziba, the servant
of Mephibosheth, (whom he had sent to take care of the possessions which
had been given him, as the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,) with a couple
of asses, loaden with provisions, and desired him to take as much of them
as he and his followers stood in need of
And when the king asked him where
he had left Mephibosheth, he said he had left him in Jerusalem, expecting
to be chosen king in the present confusions, in remembrance of the benefits
Saul had conferred upon them
At this the king had great indignation, and
gave to Ziba all that he had formerly bestowed on Mephibosheth; for he
determined that it was much fitter that he should have them than the other;
at which Ziba greatly rejoiced. FJAJ 7.49
4. When David was at Bahurim, a place so called, there came out a kinsman
of Saul's, whose name was Shimei, and threw stones at him, and gave him
reproachful words; and as his friends stood about the king and protected
him, he persevered still more in his reproaches, and called him a bloody
man, and the author of all sorts of mischief
He bade him also go out of
the land as ,an impure and accursed wretch; and he thanked God for depriving
him of his kingdom, and causing him to be punished for what injuries he
had done to his master [Saul], and this by the means of his own son
Now
when they were all provoked against him, and angry at bin;, and particularly
Abishai, who had a mind to kill Shimei, David restrained his anger. FJAJ 7.50
"Let
us not," said he, "bring upon ourselves another fresh misfortune
to those we have already, for truly I have not the least regard nor concern
for this dog that raves at me: I submit myself to God, by whose permission
this man treats me in such a wild manner; nor is it any wonder that I am
obliged to undergo these abuses from him, while I experience the like from
an impious son of my own; but perhaps God will have some commiseration
upon us; if it be his will we shall overcome them." So he went on
his way without troubling himself with Shimei, who ran along the other
side of the mountain, and threw out his abusive language plentifully
But
when David was come to Jordan, he allowed those that were with him to refresh
themselves; for they were weary. FJAJ 7.51
5. But when Absalom, and Ahithophel his counselor, were come to Jerusalem,
with all the people, David's friend, Hushai, came to them; and when he
had worshipped Absalom, he withal wished that his kingdom might last a
long time, and continue for all ages
But when Absalom said to him, "How
comes this, that he who was so intimate a friend of my father's, and appeared
faithful to him in all things, is not with him now, but hath left him,
and is come over to me?" Hushai's answer was very pertinent and prudent;
for he said, "We ought to follow God and the multitude of the people;
while these, therefore, my lord and master, are with thee, it is fit that
I should follow them, for thou hast received the kingdom from God
I will
therefore, if thou believest me to be thy friend, show the same fidelity
and kindness to thee, which thou knowest I have shown to thy father; nor
is there any reason to be in the least dissatisfied with the present state
of affairs, for the kingdom is not transferred into another, but remains
still in the same family, by the son's receiving it after his father."
This speech persuaded Absalom, who before suspected Hushai
And now he
called Ahithophel, and consulted with him what he ought to do: he persuaded
him to go in unto his father's concubines; for he said that "by this
action the people would believe that thy difference with thy father is
irreconcilable, and will thence fight with great alacrity against thy father,
for hitherto they are afraid of taking up open enmity against him, out
of an expectation that you will be reconciled again." Accordingly,
Absalom was prevailed on by this advice, and commanded his servants to
pitch him a tent upon the top of the royal palace, in the sight of the
multitude; and he went in and lay with his father's concubines
Now this
came to pass according to the prediction of Nathan, when he prophesied
and signified to him that his son would rise up in rebellion against him. FJAJ 7.52
6. And when Absalom had done what he was advised to by Ahithophel,
he desired his advice, in the second place, about the war against his father.
Now Ahithophel only asked him to let him have ten thousand chosen men,
and he promised he would slay his father, and bring the soldiers back again
in safety; and he said that then the kingdom would be firm to him when
David was dead [but not otherwise]
Absalom was pleased with this advice,
and called for Hushai, David's friend (for so did he style him); and informing
him of the opinion of Ahithophel, he asked, further, what was his opinion
concerning that matter
Now he was sensible that if Ahithophel's counsel
were followed, David would be in danger of being seized on, and slain;
so he attempted to introduce a contrary opinion, and said, Thou art not
unacquainted, O king, with the valor of thy father, and of those that are
now with him; that he hath made many wars, and hath always come off with
victory, though probably he now abides in the camp, for he is very skiliful
in stratagems, and in foreseeing the deceitful tricks of his enemies; yet
will he leave his own soldiers in the evening, and will either hide himself
in some valley, or will place an ambush at some rock; so that when our
army joins battle with him, his soldiers will retire for a little while,
but will come upon us again, as encouraged by the king's being near them;
and in the mean time your father will show himself suddenly in the time
of the battle, and will infuse courage into his own people when they are
in danger, but bring consternation to thine
Consider, therefore, my advice,
and reason upon it, and if thou canst not but acknowledge it to be the
best, reject the opinion of Ahithophel
Send to the entire country of the
Hebrews, and order them to come and fight with thy father; and do thou
thyself take the army, and be thine own general in this war, and do not
trust its management to another; then expect to conquer him with ease,
when thou overtakest him openly with his few partisans, but hast thyself
many ten thousands, who will be desirous to demonstrate to thee their diligence
and alacrity
And if thy father shall shut himself up in some city, and
bear a siege, we will overthrow that city with machines of war, and by
undermining it." When Hushai had said this, he obtained his point
against Ahithophel, for his opinion was preferred by Absalom before the
other's: however, it was no other than God (17)
This reflection of Josephus's, that God brought to nought the dangerous
counsel of Ahithophel, and directly infatuated wicked Absalom to reject
it, (which infatuation is what the Scripture styles the judicial hardening
the hearts and blinding the eyes of men, who, by their former voluntary
wickedness, have justly deserved to be destroyed, and are thereby brought
to destruction,) is a very just one, and in him not unfrequent. Nor does
Josephus ever puzzle himself, or perplex his readers, with subtle hypotheses
as to the manner of such judicial infatuations by God, while the justice
of them is generally so obvious. That peculiar manner of the Divine operations,
or permissions, or the means God makes use of in such cases, is often impenetrable
by us. "Secret things belong to the Lord our God; but those things
that are revealed belong to us, and to our children for ever, that we may
do all the words of this law," Deuteronomy 29:29. Nor have all the
subtleties of the moderns, as far as I see, given any considerable light
in this, and many other the like points of difficulty relating either to
Divine or human operations.--See the notes on Antiq. B. V ch. 1. sect.
2; and Antiq. B. IX. ch. 4. sect. 3.
who made the counsel of Hushai appear best to the mind of Absalom. FJAJ 7.53
7. So Hushai made haste to the high priests, Zadok and Abiathar, and
told them the opinion of Ahithophel, and his own, and that the resolution
was taken to follow this latter advice
He therefore bade them send to
David, and tell him of it, and to inform him of the counsels that had been
taken; and to desire him further to pass quickly over Jordan, lest his
son should change his mind, and make haste to pursue him, and so prevent
him, and seize upon him before he be in safety
Now the high priests had
their sons concealed in a proper place out of the city, that they might
carry news to David of what was transacted
Accordingly, they sent a maid-servant,
whom they could trust, to them, to carry the news of Absalom's counsels,
and ordered them to signify the same to David with all speed
So they made
no excuse nor delay, but taking along with them their fathers' injunctions,
because pious and faithful ministers, and judging that quickness and suddenness
was the best mark of faithful service, they made haste to meet with David.
But certain horsemen saw them when they were two furlongs from the city,
and informed Absalom of them, who immediately sent some to take them; but
when the sons of the high priest perceived this, they went out of the road,
and betook themselves to a certain village; that village was called Bahurim;
there they desired a certain woman to hide them, and afford them security.
Accordingly she let the young men down by a rope into a well, and laid
fleeces of wool over them; and when those that pursued them came to her,
and asked her whether she saw them, she did not deny that she had seen
them, for that they staid with her some time, but she said they then went
their ways; and she foretold that, however, if they would follow them directly,
they would catch them; but when after a long pursuit they could not catch
them, they came back again; and when the woman saw those men were returned,
and that there was no longer any fear of the young men's being caught by
them, she drew them up by the rope, and bade them go on their journey accordingly,
they used great diligence in the prosecution of that journey, and came
to David, and informed him accurately of all the counsels of Absalom
So
he commanded those that were with him to pass over Jordan while it was
night, and not to delay at all on that account. FJAJ 7.54
8. But Ahithophel, on rejection of his advice, got upon his ass, and
rode away to his own country, Gilon; and, calling his family together,
he told them distinctly what advice he had given Absalom; and since he
had not been persuaded by it, he said he would evidently perish, and this
in no long time, and that David would overcome him, and return to his kingdom
again; so he said it was better that he should take his own life away with
freedom and magnanimity, than expose himself to be punished by David, in
opposition to whom he had acted entirely for Absalom
When he had discoursed
thus to them, he went into the inmost room of his house, and hanged himself;
and thus was the death of Ahithophel, who was self-condemned; and when
his relations had taken him down from the halter, they took care of his
funeral
Now, as for David, he passed over Jordan, as we have said already,
and came to Mahanaim, every fine and very strong city; and all the chief
men of the country received him with great pleasure, both out of the shame
they had that he should be forced to flee away [from Jerusalem], and out
of the respect they bare him while he was in his former prosperity
These
were Barzillai the Gileadite, and Siphar the ruler among the Ammonites,
and Machir the principal man of Gilead; and these furnished him with plentiful
provisions for himself and his followers, insomuch that they wanted no
beds nor blankets for them, nor loaves of bread, nor wine; nay, they brought
them a great many cattle for slaughter, and afforded them what furniture
they wanted for their refreshment when they were weary, and for food, with
plenty of other necessaries. FJAJ 7.55