Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 15:13-23
Here is, I. The notice brought to David of Absalom's rebellion, Sa2 15:13. The matter was bad enough, and yet it seems to have been made worse to him (as such things commonly are) than really it was; for he was told that the hearts of the men of Israel (that is, the generality of them, at least the leading men) were after Absalom. But David was the more apt to believe it because now he could call to mind the arts that Absalom had used to inveigle them, and perhaps reflected upon it with regret that he had not done more to counterwork him, and secure his own interest, which he had been too confident of. Note, It is the wisdom of princes to make sure of their subjects; for, if they have them,…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 15:18
all the Gittites, six hundred men--These were a body of foreign guards, natives of Gath, whom David, when in the country of the Philistines, had enlisted in his service, and kept around his person. Addressing their commander, Ittai, he made a searching trial of their fidelity in bidding them (Sa2 15:19) abide with the new king.
Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 15:20
Mercy and truth be with thee - May God ever show thee mercy, as thou showest it to me, and his truth ever preserve thee from error and delusion!
John Gill on 2 Samuel 15:22
And David said unto Ittai, go, and pass over,.... It being his resolution to abide with him, he urged him no more to depart, but bid him pass over the brook Kidron before him:
and Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men; the six hundred Gittites that were under his command:
and all the little ones that were with him; that belonged to him and his men, and no doubt their wives also.
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 15:22-29
After this assurance of his devotedness, David let Ittai do as he pleased. ועבר לך, "go and pass on." עבר does not mean to pass by, but to go forward. Thus Ittai and his men and all his family that was with him went forward with the king. By "the little ones" (taph) we are to understand a man's whole family, as in many other instances (see at Exo 12:37).
Sa2 15:22-23
The king crosses the Kidron, and sends the priests back with the ark to Jerusalem. - Sa2 15:23. All the land (as in Sa1 14:25) wept aloud when all the people went forward; and the king went over the brook Kidron, and all the people went over in the direction of (lit. in the face of) the way to the desert. The brook Kidron is a w…
