For Teaching

2 Samuel 16: What the Passage Says

79 claims across 23 verses, in the order the chapter makes them.

Not a sermon outline. What 2 Samuel 16 says, and what its hard words meant. The reading of it is yours.

The Chapter in a Sentence

As David flees Jerusalem during Absalom's revolt, Ziba meets him with supplies and claims that Mephibosheth has stayed behind hoping to regain Saul's kingdom, so David hands Mephibosheth's property to Ziba. Further on, Shimei, a relative of Saul, curses David and throws stones at him; David refuses to let Abishai kill him, saying the LORD has told Shimei to curse, and may yet repay him with good. Meanwhile Absalom enters Jerusalem, Hushai declares loyalty to him, and Ahithophel advises Absalom to sleep with his father's concubines in public view, which he does. The chapter ends by noting that in those days Ahithophel's advice was treated like a word from God, by David and by Absalom alike.

Claim by Claim

16:1
- David had gone a little past the summit of the hill.
- Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met David.
- Ziba had a pair of saddled donkeys with him.
- The donkeys carried two hundred loaves of bread.
- The donkeys carried a hundred clusters of raisins.
- The donkeys carried a hundred summer fruits.
- The donkeys carried a skin of wine.
16:2
- The king asked Ziba what he meant by bringing these things.
- Ziba said the donkeys were for the king's household to ride on.
- Ziba said the bread and summer fruit were for the young men to eat.
- Ziba said the wine was for those who grew faint in the wilderness to drink.
16:3
- The king asked where the son of Ziba's master was.
- Ziba said that Mephibosheth was staying in Jerusalem.
- Ziba said Mephibosheth had said that on that day the house of Israel would restore to him the kingdom of his father.
16:4
- The king told Ziba that everything belonging to Mephibosheth was now Ziba's.
- Ziba said he bowed down before the king.
- Ziba said he hoped to find favor in the king's eyes.
- Ziba addressed the king as his lord.
16:5
- King David came to Bahurim.
- A man of the family of the house of Saul came out from there.
- The man's name was Shimei son of Gera.
- Shimei came out cursing continually as he went.
16:6
- Shimei threw stones at David.
- Shimei threw stones at all the servants of King David.
- All the people and all the mighty men were at David's right hand and at his left.
16:7
- Shimei said this while he cursed.
- Shimei told David to get out.
- Shimei called David a man of blood.
- Shimei called David a worthless man.
16:8
- Shimei said the LORD had returned upon David all the blood of the house of Saul.
- Shimei said David had reigned in the place of Saul.
- Shimei said the LORD had given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom, David's son.
- Shimei said David had been caught in his own evil.
- Shimei said this was because David was a man of blood.
16:9
- Abishai son of Zeruiah spoke to the king.
- Abishai asked why this dead dog should curse his lord the king.
- Abishai asked leave to go over and take off Shimei's head.
16:10
- The king asked what he had to do with the sons of Zeruiah.
- The king said to let Shimei curse.
- The king said the LORD had told Shimei to curse David.
- The king asked who could then say to him, Why have you done so?
16:11
- David spoke to Abishai and to all his servants.
- David said his own son, who came from his own body, was seeking his life.
- David said how much more might this Benjamite do so.
- David said to leave Shimei alone and let him curse.
- David said the LORD had told Shimei to do it.
16:12
- David said perhaps the LORD would look on his affliction.
- David said the LORD would repay him good in place of Shimei's cursing that day.
16:13
- David and his men went along the road.
- Shimei went along the side of the hill opposite David.
- Shimei cursed as he went.
- Shimei threw stones toward David.
- Shimei flung dust.
16:14
- The king and all the people with him arrived weary.
- They refreshed themselves there.
16:15
- Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem.
- Ahithophel was with Absalom.
16:16
- Hushai the Archite came to Absalom.
- Hushai was David's friend.
- Hushai said to Absalom, Long live the king, long live the king.
16:17
- Absalom asked Hushai whether this was the loyalty he showed his friend.
- Absalom asked Hushai why he had not gone with his friend.
16:18
- Hushai told Absalom no.
- Hushai said he would belong to the one whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel chose.
- Hushai said he would remain with that one.
16:19
- Hushai asked a second question: whom should he serve.
- Hushai said he should serve in the presence of the son.
- Hushai said that as he had served in Absalom's father's presence, so he would be in Absalom's presence.
16:20
- Absalom spoke to Ahithophel.
- Absalom told Ahithophel to give counsel about what they should do.
16:21
- Ahithophel told Absalom to go in to his father's concubines.
- Ahithophel said David had left those concubines to keep the house.
- Ahithophel said all Israel would hear that Absalom had made himself odious to his father.
- Ahithophel said the hands of all who were with Absalom would then be strengthened.
16:22
- They spread a tent for Absalom on the roof of the house.
- Absalom went in to his father's concubines.
- This happened in the sight of all Israel.
16:23
- The counsel Ahithophel gave in those days was regarded as if one had inquired of the word of God.
- All of Ahithophel's counsel was so regarded both by David and by Absalom.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

16:1: Mephibosheth was Jonathan's son and Saul's grandson, lame in both feet; David had earlier restored Saul's family land to him and appointed Ziba, a servant of Saul's household, to farm it for him (2 Samuel 9). The "skin full of wine" was a bag sewn from a whole animal hide, the ordinary container for liquid on a journey; the KJV "bottle" does not mean glass. "Summer fruit" is figs, usually pressed into cakes for travel.
16:2: "Young men" translates a word for a king's servants and retainers, fighting men and attendants of any age, not boys.
16:3: Hebrew uses "son" for any male descendant. Mephibosheth was Saul's grandson, so the kingdom Ziba quotes him as claiming is his grandfather's. Ziba is reporting words no one else hears; when Mephibosheth appears later he denies them (2 Samuel 19:24–30), and the account leaves the two versions standing side by side.
16:4: A king could seize and reassign the land of a subject judged disloyal. David hands over the entire estate on the word of one party without hearing the other.
16:5: Bahurim was a village in the territory of Benjamin, Saul's own tribe, on the road running east out of Jerusalem toward the Jordan. "Cursing" here is not foul language but the formal calling down of ruin on someone by invoking God's name, an act taken seriously as having real force.
16:6: The "mighty men" are David's elite corps of veteran soldiers, a recognized group with a roll of names listed later in the book. They are walking on both sides of the king as a moving wall of bodyguards, which is what makes Shimei's stone throwing so brazen.
16:7: "Man of Belial" is the KJV's transliteration of a Hebrew phrase meaning roughly "son of worthlessness", a stock insult for a scoundrel. "Man of blood" accuses David of bloodguilt: of having killed people whose deaths are still owed an answer.
16:8: Shimei is charging David with the deaths in Saul's family after Saul's own death, among them Abner and Saul's son Ish-bosheth. The narrative elsewhere reports that David neither ordered nor approved these killings; Shimei states the accusation as a fact.
16:9: A dead dog was about the lowest thing nameable: dogs in this world were half-wild scavengers, not pets. Zeruiah was David's sister, so Abishai and his brother Joab were David's nephews; the phrase "sons of Zeruiah" is used elsewhere in these books for their readiness to settle matters by killing.
16:10: "What have I to do with you" renders a Hebrew idiom of sharp distancing ("you and I have nothing in common here") used to reject someone's proposal, not to ask a question.
16:11: Benjamin was Saul's tribe, which lost the throne when David took it; a Benjamite had a family reason to hate David.
16:12: "Requite" simply means pay back or repay. David is not predicting an outcome, he is saying he will accept the humiliation now and see what comes of it.
16:13: Flinging dust was a recognized public gesture of contempt and of mourning, performed to be seen rather than to do harm.
16:14: The Hebrew says only that they arrived "there" without naming a place; some ancient copies read a place name at this point. The stopping place on the road toward the Jordan is left unidentified.
16:15: Ahithophel had been David's own senior adviser before joining Absalom's revolt (2 Samuel 15:12).
16:16: "The king's friend" appears to be a formal position at court, a trusted personal counselor, rather than a description of affection. Hushai had been sent back to Jerusalem by David to pose as a deserter and work against Ahithophel's advice (2 Samuel 15:32–37). The KJV's "God save the king" translates a Hebrew shout meaning "Long live the king."
16:18: Hushai never names Absalom. His words can be heard as a pledge to whoever now holds the throne, or as a pledge to the man he still believes God chose, the ambiguity is in the Hebrew and is not resolved.
16:19: Hushai's argument is built on ordinary court practice: officials normally carried over from a king to his heir, so serving the son looks like loyalty to the family rather than betrayal of the father.
16:21: A concubine was a legally recognized secondary wife of lower standing than a full wife, belonging to the household. Publicly taking possession of a king's women was a claim to the throne itself, and it put reconciliation out of reach, which is Ahithophel's point. The Hebrew says Absalom would make himself "a stench" to his father. "The hands of all that are with thee shall be strong" is an idiom for men's nerve holding firm.
16:22: Roofs were flat and used as everyday living space. The palace roof stood above the city and was visible from it, so pitching the tent there made the act deliberately public, the same roof from which David had first seen Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:2).
16:23: The Hebrew says his advice was treated like "asking for the word of God", a reference to formally consulting God for a decision, done through a priest or by sacred lots. The comparison is about how reliably right his counsel was thought to be.

Read 2 Samuel 16