Meanwhile Absalom also had mustered his forces, and having entrusted the command to Amasa, the son of Ithra or Jether by Abigail David’s sister (2 Sam. xvii. 25), he too crossed the Jordan. The decisive engagement, which was not long delayed, took place not far from Mahanaim, in the dense forest of Ephraim, a region still “covered with thick oaks, and tangled bushes, and thorny creepers growing over rugged rocks and ruinous precipices[306].” Here the army of Absalom was utterly routed. Entangled in the thick undergrowth, crushing each other in remediless ruin, upwards of 20,000 perished in that fatal wood, which devoured more people that day than the sword devoured (2 Sam. xviii. 8). Amidst the crowd of fugitives Absalom also fled, and as he rode on his mule where “the strong arms of the trees spread out so near the ground that one cannot walk erect beneath them[307],” his long hair caught in an oak, and he hung suspended from the tree. A man chanced to see him, and forthwith told Joab. He himself had forborne to touch the prince, having heard the strict injunctions of the loving David to his three captains before the battle to deal tenderly with the young man. But Joab had no such scruples; with three darts in his hand he went to the spot and transfixed him while yet alive. A great pit was then dug, and into it the corpse was flung,and covered with a great heap of stones. With the death of the usurper Joab knew the rebellion was at an end, he therefore sounded the signal of recall, and the battle closed.
Meanwhile David, who had been sitting at the gate of Mahanaim anxiously awaiting tidings of the battle, no sooner heard that his son was dead, than he gave way to the most violent grief. Joab alone dared to confront him, bidding him bestir himself if he would not see another popular revolt. Roused at last, the king consented to present himself at “the gate.” But he could not forget who had given the death-blow to his favourite son, and even vowed to transfer the chieftaincy of the troops to Amasa, though he had led the forces on the other side, and “in this was laid the lasting breach between himself and his powerful nephew, which neither the one nor the other ever forgave.” The rebellion ended, the rightful monarch could return to his kingdom. With a self-control rare in Western no less than Eastern history, every step in his progress was marked by forgiveness. Shimei was forgiven, Mephibosheth, proved to have been faithful, was partially reinstated, and Barzillai rewarded with ample gifts (2 Sam. xix. 16–43).
But the danger was not yet over. In bringing about the king’s return, his own tribe of Judah had the largest share. This provoked the old jealousy of the other tribes[308] (Comp. Judg. viii. 1; xii. 1), while the Benjamites even took up arms, and placed themselves under the leadership of Sheba, son of Bichri, a man of Mount Ephraim. Many others also rallied round him, and when Amasa, thenew general-in-chief failed within three days to muster the forces of Judah, David was afraid lest more harm should come of this fresh rising than had come from that of Absalom. Accordingly Abishai with the “Mighty Men” was dispatched to quell the insurrection, and to pursue after Sheba before he reached any fortified towns. Taking with him the royal body-guard, Abishai, accompanied by Joab, set out, and at the great stone of Gibeon encountered Amasa. Joab’s robe was girded round his waist, and in the folds was a sword, which “by accident or design protruded from the sheath.” Art thou in health, my brother? he saluted Amasa, and took him by the beard as if to kiss him. The other rushed into his embrace, and was instantly stabbed to the heart, his blood spirting out upon his cousin’s girdle and sandals. Leaving the body in the road, Joab hurried on after Sheba, who, rousing the tribes as he passed, had made for Abel Beth-Maachah[309], a town of some importance far up in the north by the waters of Merom. Thither Joab rushed in pursuit, threw up an embankment, and battered the walls. A wise woman saved the town from destruction. Approaching the wall, she gained a parley with the angry general, who promised to leave the place, if Sheba was put to death. Thereupon she returned to her people, and thehead of the rebel was soon flung into Joab’s camp, who straightway sounded a trumpet, and with his troops returned to Jerusalem (2 Sam. xx. 22).
CHAPTER V.
CLOSE OF DAVID’S REIGN.
2 Sam. xxi.–xxiv. 1 Kings i. ii. B.C. 1022–1015.
SHORTLY after David’s restoration, his kingdom was visited for three years with a grievous famine. Enquiry was made of the Divine Oracle, and it was discovered to be a punishment for an act of faithlessness on the part of Saul, who had broken the solemn covenant made by Joshua with the Gibeonites (Josh. ix. 3–27). In a fit of sudden zeal for the children of Israel and Judah he had killed some of them, and devised a general massacre of the rest (2 Sam. xxi. 2, 5). The Gibeonites were now asked what atonement they were willing to receive for the wrongs they had suffered. In reply, they demanded neither silver nor gold. Blood had been spilt, and blood they would have, and nothing would satisfy them but permission to take seven of Saul’s sons and hang, or rather crucify, them at Gibeah. Accordingly the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, and the five sons of Michal, whom they had borne to Saul, were delivered up, and the Gibeonites crucified them on the hill of Gibeah. This was done in April, at the beginning of barley-harvest[310] (2 Sam. xxii. 9), and there the bodies remained till the periodical rains in October dropped upon them out of heaven (2 Sam. xxii. 10). All this while, spreading on the rock a coarse sackcloth robe, Rizpah watched over the blackening corpses, andsuffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. The tale of her devoted love at length was conveyed to David, who had the remains removed, and at the same time directed that the bones of Saul also and of Jonathan should be taken from Jabesh-Gilead, and buried in the ancestral sepulchre of Kish, after which God was intreated for the land (2 Sam. xxi. 14).
Meanwhile, in consequence probably of the intestine feuds of the Israelites, the Philistines had recovered sufficient strength to venture on once more attacking them. David himself went with the host to battle, and in mortal combat with another descendant of the giant race was near falling a victim to his rashness, when he was succoured by the valiant Abishai, and the people, fearful lest the light of Israel should be quenched (2 Sam. xxi. 17), prevailed upon him to desist from accompanying them to battle in future. Other attempts were afterwards made by the Philistines, but the valour of David’s captains served to keep them in check (2 Sam. xxi. 18–22).
The Hebrew kingdom had now attained its farthest limits, even those which God had revealed many centuries before in vision to Abraham (Gen. xv. 18). Not only had David given a capital to his people, but he had conquered all the nations on the immediate frontier of his realm. His kingdom had become like one of the kingdoms of the world[311]. It had its court, its palace, its splendour, its tributaries. In this hour of his prosperity the monarch was tempted (1 Chr. xxi. 1) to yield to pride and self-exaltation, and gave directions to Joab to carry out a general census of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba. His object, it has been supposed, was either the levying of a poll-tax or the formation of a standingarmy with a view to foreign conquests[312]. Whatever was his precise motive, it excited the repugnance of the captains of the host, and even of Joab himself, who not only warned the king against being the cause of a trespass in Israel, but regarded the royal proposition as actually abominable (1 Chr. xxi. 6). When, however, he found that nothing would turn the king from his fixed purpose, he set out, and after the lapse of 9 months and 20 days reported 800,000 in Israel as fit for military service, and 500,000 in Judah. But before he had numbered Benjamin or Levi (2 Sam. xxiv. 10) David’s heart smote him, and Gad, the seer, was commissioned to offer him the choice of 7 years’ famine, or 3 months’ defeat before his enemies, or a 3 days’ pestilence. David chose to fall into the hands of God rather than into the hands of man. Thereupon the plague began, and during three days swept off upwards of 70,000. But when the hand of the destroying angel was uplifted over Jerusalem, the Lord, whose mercies are great (2 Sam. xxiv. 14), repented of the evil, and on the intercession of the king the angel desisted, when he was by the threshing-floor of Ornan or Araunah, a wealthy Jebusite. By the advice of Gad David now bought the site of the threshing-floor and a yoke of oxen, erected there an altar, and offered thereon burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. Fire descended in testimony of the acceptance of the sacrifice, and with the cessation of the plague consecrated the rocky site of the future altar of Solomon’s Temple on Mount Moriah (2 Chr. iii. 1).
The remaining years of David’s life were spent in amassing treasures and materials, and making preparations for the erection of the Temple (1 Chr. xxii. 5, 14). But even now the truth of the prophet’s words was forced upon him, that his foes should be those of hisown household. The three eldest of his sons, Amnon, Chileab, and Absalom being dead, the fourth—Adonijah—resolved to put forth his pretensions to the kingdom. Like Absalom, whom he resembled in personal beauty, he began by surrounding himself with chariots and horsemen, and succeeded in drawing over to his side not only the high-priest Abiathar, but even Joab, the commander-in-chief, whose loyalty at last wavered. Confident in the support of such old servants of the king, the pretender proclaimed a great sacrificial festival at the Stone of Zoheleth, south of Jerusalem, near the fountain of En-rogel, and invited to it all the royal princes, except Solomon, and not a few of the captains of the royal army (1 K. i. 5–9).
While they assembled at Zoheleth, Nathan the prophet persuaded Bath-sheba to seek an interview with the king, and inform him of what was going on. Bath-sheba did so, and had hardly concluded her tale, when Nathan himself entered, confirmed her account, and demanded to know whether Adonijah’s actions had the royal approval. Though old and feeble, David had sufficient energy to rise to the present emergency, and solemnly assured Bath-sheba of his unalterable determination that Solomon should succeed to the throne. Then summoning Zadok and Benaiah he bade them, together with Nathan, convey Solomon in state down to Gihon, and there formally anoint and proclaim him king. Accordingly these officers, accompanied by the royal guards, escorted Solomon thither, mounted on the royal mule (1 K. i. 38), and there Zadok anointed him with oil from the sacred horn of the Tabernacle, amidst the sound of trumpets and loud shouts of God save the King. Thence the new monarch was escorted in triumph back through the city, and sat on the royal throne amidst general applause, in the sight of his aged father, who blessed God that during his own lifetime he hadbeen permitted to behold his successor (1 K. i. 45–48). Intelligence of these transactions was conveyed to the conspirators, in the midst of their festivities at En-rogel, by Jonathan the son of Abiathar. They had already heard the noise of the people shouting as Solomon passed in procession through the city, and no sooner learnt the cause than, seized with alarm, they instantly dispersed, and every man went his way (1 K. i. 49). Dreading the vengeance of the new king, Adonijah now fled to the Tabernacle, put himself in sanctuary by grasping the horns of the altar, and refused to quit the spot till Solomon had promised with an oath to spare his life. The young and politic monarch, on being informed of this, abstained from binding himself by any oath, and simply assured Adonijah of safety so long as he shewed himself a worthy man, but threatened him with death, if wickedness should be found in him (1 K. i. 49–52). On these conditions he quitted his place of refuge, and, having made obeisance to the new king, returned to the privacy of his own house (1 K. i. 53).