Commander for Life In Absalom’s brief coup attempt against his father, he appoints Amasa (1) as commander of his rebel troops. Amasa is the first cousin of Joab, who commands David’s army. During the rebellion, Joab kills Absalom. This occurs despite David’s explicit command to spare his son’s life. Though doing so ends the coup […]
A Disgraced Counselor Ahithophel is King David’s counselor. Yet when Absalom attempts his coup against his father, Ahithophel shows no sign of loyalty to David and aligns himself with Absalom. Ahithophel gives Absalom advice, which we later find out is correct. But Hushai—working under David’s direction to foil Ahithophel—provides a conflicting recommendation, albeit for David’s […]
Hushai is an Arkite. The Bible tells us little about the Arkites, other than that they descend from Noah’s grandson Canaan. This makes Hushai a foreigner in Israel, a non-Jew. Yet he is also loyal to King David, serving as his confidant. When Absalom attempts a coup against David, the king flees for his life. […]
A Loyal but Overzealous Army Commander Abishai is the brother of Joab, commander of King David’s army. Scripture tells us that Abishai is one of David’s mighty warriors, a subcommander of his army, and credited with impressive military victories. He’s also zealous for David, perhaps too much so. Or maybe he has a thirst for […]
A Priest with Shifting Loyalties When Doeg the Edomite, under the order of King Saul, kills Ahimelek and eighty-five other priests, only Ahimelek’s son Abiathar escapes. Abiathar flees to David, who offers him sanctuary. Abiathar takes the ephod with him. This likely refers to the ephod Moses made for the priests to wear (Exodus 28). […]
Tamar (3) is the daughter of Absalom. She is most beautiful. That’s all we know about her. We can assume Absalom named her after her Aunt Tamar, her father’s sister whom her Uncle Amnon raped. This aunt was taken in by her dad, where she lived in desolation. By sharing her aunt’s name, Absalom’s daughter […]
His Lust Leads to His Ruin Amnon (1) is the oldest son of David. As the firstborn, we’d expect him to one day replace his father as king. Yet this is not to be. Though it may have been David’s intent to make Amnon king, the young man’s behavior and the consequences of what he […]
The Tragedy of a Beautiful Princess The story of Tamar (2) is tragic. She’s the beautiful daughter of King David and catches the eye of her half-brother, Amnon, who lusts for her. At the advice of his cousin, Amnon feigns illness and manipulates Tamar into his bedroom, duping David into innocently arranging the whole thing. […]
A Prophet Who Dares to Confront the King Nathan (2) is a prophet during the reign of King David. The Bible has two stories about Nathan. When David has established his kingdom and enjoys a time of peace, he shares an idea with Nathan. He wants to build a temple for the Lord. Nathan tells […]
Successful Military Leader with Character Flaws Joab serves as the commander of David’s army. He realizes much success as a military leader, but he has some severe character issues. Here are three stories about Joab. As we learned in the chapter about Abner, after he defects to David’s camp with a plan to bring all […]