Structure of 2nd Samuel
2 Sam 2:1-8:18 – David under the blessing
2 Sam 9:1-24:25 – David under the curse
2nd Samuel according to puppets…
David as King (2 Sam. 2:1–5:10)
Ruler of Judah (2 Sam 2:1-4:12)
People of Judah anoint David king
David inquires of the LORD and makes Hebron his capital
Connection with Abraham
Settles in Hebron, given land, given children
Abner makes Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth king of Israel
Battle at Gibeon (2:1-32)
Benjamites are divided
Abner calls a truce
Abner transfers northern tribes to David (3:1-21)
David tells Abner to bring him Michal
Abner is killed by Joab (2:22-38)
Killed in the gateway of Hebron, a city of refuge
Joab is cursed by David
David is declared innocent of Abner’s death
Saul's son Ish-Bosheth is murdered during his afternoon nap (4:1-12)
The two assassins take Ish-Bosheth’s head to David
David kills them, and references the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul and how he had been punished
Ruler of Israel (5:1-5)
The people of Israel decided to follow David.
David is referred to as “The shepherd of Israel.”
Jerusalem made capital (5:6-10)
Hebron was David’s capital for seven and a half years.
David conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites.
This is different than the account in Joshua.
Jerusalem is called “The City of David.”
The Philistines gathered their armies to go get David
David inquired of the LORD
The LORD told David to have his men go to the poplar trees behind the Philistines and wait until they heard the sound of marching in the treetops
The LORD gave David complete victory over the Philistines
David Returns the Ark of the Covenant (6:1-23)
The Ark of the Covenant had been staying at the house of Abinadab in Baalah.
David went to get the Ark along with 30,000 young Israelite men.
The sons of Abinadab – Ahio and Uzzah – placed the ark on cart to be pulled by oxen.
David and all the people played music and danced for joy.
On the way, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out to keep the Ark from falling.
When he touched the Ark, he dropped dead.
David was angry about this, and he decided to leave the Ark in the keep of Obed-Edom the Gittite instead of taking it to Jerusalem.
Obed-Edom was blessed by God for keeping the Ark at his house for three months.
Later, David decided to go ahead and bring the Ark to Jerusalem.
This time, the people carried the Ark with poles as The Law of Moses had commanded.
David offered sacrifices every time they took six steps.
The procession of people shouted for joy and sounded trumpets.
David wore a “linen ephod” and “danced before the LORD with all his might.”
Michal said to him, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
David responded, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
The story ends by saying that David and Michal never had any kids together.
David Makes Plans for the Temple (7:1-29)
David feels guilty for having a nice house while God does not have a nice house.
David asks the prophet Nathan about it and Nathan is all for giving God a nice house.
But Nathan has to put his foot in his mouth.
God says, “When have I ever asked for a nice house?”
David has too much blood on his hands.
His son Solomon will build God’s Temple.
David sets up a Temple fund for the future.
The Davidic Covenant (7:1-29)
God told Nathan to deliver a message to David.
“I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth.”
“I will make a home for my people Israel…”
“The LORD himself will establish a house for you.”
“I will establish forever the throne of your son who will build my Temple…”
“My love will never be taken away from him…”
“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.”
David’s response:
“Who am I to deserve this?”
“How great you are, Sovereign LORD!”
“Your covenant is trustworthy…”
“May what you have promised come to pass.”
David and Mephibosheth (9:1-13)
David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
He was told that Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth who was still living.
Mephibosheth was “lame in both feet.”
According to 2 Sam. 4, Mephibosheth was dropped when he was five and could not walk because of this.
David returned all of Saul’s land to Mephibosheth and gave him the honor of “eating at the king’s table” as though he were one of David’s own sons.
David’s Battles (5:17-25; 8:1-18; 10:1-19)
David defeats the Philistines
David defeats the Moabites
He allowed a third of them to live and they paid tribute to him.
David defeated the army of Hadadezer of Zobah near the Euphrates.
He defeated the Aramean army at Damascus and they paid him tribute.
David defeated the Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
They became subject to David
“The older will serve the younger.”
David made Joab general of his army, and Zadok and Ahimelek (Abiathar's son) priests.
David and the Ammonites
When the Ammonite king died, David sent a delegation to give his condolences.
The new king arrested the delegation, shaved their heads, cut off the butt-side of their robes, and sent them away.
The Ammonites led their army against David, and the Arameans joined them.
David and Joab led Israel in battle and struck down their enemies.
The Arameans were afraid to ally themselves with the Ammonites after this.
David’s Kingdom Expansion
David and Bathsheba (11:1-27)
David stayed at his palace while his men were out fighting battles.
He looked down from his roof and saw Bathsheba bathing.
He asked about her and was told that she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
David had her brought to the palace and they had sex.
Later on, Bathsheba sent word to David that she was pregnant.
David called Bathsheba’s husband Uriah back from the frontlines and told him to go spend time with his wife, but Uriah refused.
David got him drunk and sent him home, but Uriah slept in the street instead.
When David saw he could not cover his tracks, he sent Uriah back to the frontlines with a letter telling Joab to make sure that Uriah was killed in battle.
Bathsheba mourned for her husband for a period of time and then David took her into his home and she became his wife.
Bathsheba gave birth to a son.
Nathan Confronts David (12:1-31)
Nathan went to King David and told him a story about a rich man and a poor man.
The rich man had many sheep, but the poor man only had one that he loved like a daughter.
But when the rich man had a guest, he did not feed his guest one of his own sheep, but cooked up the poor man's little lamb for dinner.
The rich man had many sheep, but the poor man only had one that he loved like a daughter.
But when the rich man had a guest, he did not feed his guest one of his own sheep, but cooked up the poor man's little lamb for dinner.
David was enraged by the rich man in the story and vows to have the man severely punished.
But Nathan says to him, “You are the man!”
David repented, but he was now living under the curse of the Covenant.
David’s child with Bathsheba died.
Later, David and Bathsheba had another son named Solomon, one of the ancestors of Jesus.
Solomon was also known as “Jedidiah,” the name God gave to him.
“Jedidiah” means “loved by the LORD.”
Absalom’s Conspiracy (13:1-19:8)
David’s son Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar.
David hears about it, but does nothing... which is similar to the story of the rape of Jacob's daughter.
David hears about it, but does nothing... which is similar to the story of the rape of Jacob's daughter.
Tamar’s brother Absalom holds a grudge and plots Amnon’s death for two years.
Absalom kills Amnon at the banquet of princes and then flees.
After three years, Joab gets a "wise woman" to go tell David a story.
She tells him that she is a widow and that her two sons got into a fight out in a field, and that one killed the other and was now on the run from the people who not only wanted to kill him for his crime, but also wanted him dead so they could claim the inheritance of his dead father for themselves.
David says he will issue an order on her and her son's behalf.
She then asks him why he will not do the same thing for his own son Absalom.
David sees he's been trapped and is like "Joab put you up to this, didn't he?"
After three years, Joab gets a "wise woman" to go tell David a story.
She tells him that she is a widow and that her two sons got into a fight out in a field, and that one killed the other and was now on the run from the people who not only wanted to kill him for his crime, but also wanted him dead so they could claim the inheritance of his dead father for themselves.
David says he will issue an order on her and her son's behalf.
She then asks him why he will not do the same thing for his own son Absalom.
David sees he's been trapped and is like "Joab put you up to this, didn't he?"
David sends Joab to go bring Absalom back home, but David makes him live in a different house and refuses to see him.
After two years, Absalom really wanted to see his dad, so he sent for Joab, but Joab wouldn't come... so Absalom decided to get his attention by setting his crops on fire.
This got Joab's attention and he arranged for Absalom to meet with his father.
Over time, Absalom begins to gain allies through bribery and his good looks, and begins to overthrow David.
He would get up first thing in the morning and greet visitors to the city in order to flatter them and plant the idea in their heads that he would make a great ruler.
He tells his father he needs to go make sacrifices over in the city of Hebron, but when he gets there he has all of his followers declare him king of Hebron.
After two years, Absalom really wanted to see his dad, so he sent for Joab, but Joab wouldn't come... so Absalom decided to get his attention by setting his crops on fire.
This got Joab's attention and he arranged for Absalom to meet with his father.
Over time, Absalom begins to gain allies through bribery and his good looks, and begins to overthrow David.
He would get up first thing in the morning and greet visitors to the city in order to flatter them and plant the idea in their heads that he would make a great ruler.
He tells his father he needs to go make sacrifices over in the city of Hebron, but when he gets there he has all of his followers declare him king of Hebron.
David and his men decide that they must leave the capital city before Absalom shows up to make war.
Mephibosheth’s grandson sides with Absalom.
Shimei, one of Saul's cousins, curses David and throws dirt and rocks at David and his men as they are fleeing, but David admits that he probably deserves it, and orders his men to leave Saul's relative alone, saying, "What if God told him to curse me?"
Meanwhile, Absalom He takes over David’s palace, declares himself king over all of Israel, and sleeps with David’s concubines on the roof where everyone can see.
Meanwhile, Absalom He takes over David’s palace, declares himself king over all of Israel, and sleeps with David’s concubines on the roof where everyone can see.
He also sets up a monument to himself and appoints Amasa, Joab's uncle, as his army general in place of David's general Joab.
Ahithophel, who served as counselor to King David has now sided with Absalom, and advises him to chase after David as quickly as possible while he is still weak and to kill only the king.
However, David has spies in Absalom's court in the form of his friend Hushai the Arkite and in his two priests Abiathar and Zadok.
Hushai also gives Absalom advice and tells him not to hunt down David yet, but first go and gather up all the men of Israel so that they may have the strength to destroy an entire city if necessary to get to David.
Absalom goes with Hushai's advice, but as he is traveling, David's spies send word to David via Hushai, via Zadok and Abiathar the priests, via a servant girl, via a man and his wife, via two scouts (who are also hidden by the wife in a well when they are being pursued by Absalom's men) all the way back across the river to David.
David and his army march out after Absalom and his army and a heavy battle takes place in the forest of Ephraim.
David orders his men not to kill Absalom, but only to capture him.
Joab and his men cross paths with Absalom during the battle and a donkey chase through the woods ensues.
However, Absalom’s long flowing hair gets stuck in a tree branch as his donkey passes beneath it, and he is left there hanging by his hair.
Joab catches up to him and puts three javelins in his heart.
David mourns for Absalom, but eventually Joab tells him to stop disgracing his army by crying over his enemy.
David’s Wars (20:1–21:32)
Sheba’s rebellion (20:1-25)
David returned to Jerusalem, but a Benjamite named Sheba rebelled against David and all of Israel followed him.
Judah was the only tribe who remained loyal to David.
Joab went after Sheba to kill him.
On the way, he ran into his uncle Amasa – the man Absalom had previously given Joab’s job to – and Joab killed him.
Later, they had to clean up the body from the road because David’s army kept stopping to look at it and this was causing a traffic jam... apparently rubbernecking was a thing back then, too.
Joab was going to lay siege to the town where Sheba was staying and have the whole place destroyed when a “wise woman” came out and told him to rethink his strategy.
She asked him, "What can we do for you?"
She asked him, "What can we do for you?"
Joab asked for Sheba, and the woman went back into the city, and after awhile Sheba’s head came flying over the top of the city wall and Joab picked it up and went home.
Gibeonites avenged (21:1-14)
There was a bad famine in the land.
David asked God why, and God told him it was a result of Saul’s murder of the Gibeonites.
David went to the Gibeonites and asked them what he should do.
They asked for David to hand over seven of Saul’s descendants so they could kill them and David did.
David spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan because of his covenant of peace with Jonathan.
The Four Philistine Giants (21:15-22)
David fought against Ishbi-Benob who had sworn to kill him.
David grew tired in battle, and Abishai came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine.
David’s men swore that they would never let David go out into battle again.
In another battle with the Philistines, Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph.
“In another battle…Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.”
“In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all…When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.”
David’s Psalm of Praise (22:1-51)
Chapter 22 contains a psalm of David which is also found in the Book of Psalms as Psalm 18.
Excerpts:
“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—
from violent people you save me.”
“I pursued my enemies and crushed them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
I crushed them completely, and they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.”
“He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”
This psalm also connects God's covenant with David and his descendants with the promise that God made to Eve and her descendants by using similar word-pictures, particularly the words "crush" and "beneath my feet," which are reminiscent of the promise that states the descendant of eve will crush the head of the serpent. In other words, the coming messiah will be a descendant of David.
David’s Census (24:1-25)
David enrolls the fighting men of Israel to see how many fighting men there are in the land.
Joab questions this action.
Here there are differences between the account of this event in 2nd Samuel and the account in 1st Chronicles: mainly, was it God or was it Satan who incited David to do this? Samuel says God was angry with Israel, and Chronicles says Satan rose up against Israel... so which one is right?
Well, this is just one of many examples where the different Bible writers had different perspectives on the same event. This difference happens to be a theological difference. The book of Job can actually be helpful in shedding some light on this topic. In Job, we see several different theological perspectives on the nature of God and humans and why bad things happen to people. One of the earlier perspectives represented in that book is that bad things happen to people with whom God is angry. This also seems to be the perspective of Samuel. However, the frame-story of Job, which was written later shows how Satan can also cause bad things to happen to people. This perspective appears to be what we see in Chronicles, which was written well after Samuel. So which perspective is correct?
Well, this is just one of many examples where the different Bible writers had different perspectives on the same event. This difference happens to be a theological difference. The book of Job can actually be helpful in shedding some light on this topic. In Job, we see several different theological perspectives on the nature of God and humans and why bad things happen to people. One of the earlier perspectives represented in that book is that bad things happen to people with whom God is angry. This also seems to be the perspective of Samuel. However, the frame-story of Job, which was written later shows how Satan can also cause bad things to happen to people. This perspective appears to be what we see in Chronicles, which was written well after Samuel. So which perspective is correct?
David realizes that he has done something foolish and he repents.
The prophet Gad shows up with a message from God, saying that David must now choose between three punishments…
The prophet Gad shows up with a message from God, saying that David must now choose between three punishments…
Three years of famine
Three months of fleeing from enemies
Three days of plague
David chooses the plague, saying that he would rather be judged by God than by men.
The “angel of death” went through the entire land of Israel and killed 70,000 people.
When the angel came to Jerusalem, God wanted to put a stop to it.
The prophet Gad tells David to build an altar on the threshold of Araunah the Jebusite.
The plague stops.
The threshing floor of Araunah is where Solomon would later build the Temple.
So why was there a plague in the first place?
David had ignored the covenant made with God, and the people did not present offerings of atonement when they participated in the census. This meant that everyone's life was forfeit and that they were refusing atonement and that the punishment for sin would fall upon all the people instead of upon the sacrifice.
But God puts a stop to the carnage at "the time of completion" (the number seven in the 70,000), and says, "No more death. Atonement must be made for my people."
And of course, that atonement is made on the future sight of the Jerusalem Temple.
Solomon Becomes King (1st Kgs. 1:1–2:46)
David's son Adonijah sets himself up as king.
Joab allies himself with Adonijah.
Nathan and Bathsheba come up with a plot to make sure Solomon becomes the next king.
Here, David is describes as very old... apparently “too old to get it on” with his concubine Abishag who keeps him warm in his bed.
Nathan and Bathsheba go to David and remind him that he promised to make Solomon his successor, not Adonijah.
Nathan and Bathsheba go to David and remind him that he promised to make Solomon his successor, not Adonijah.
David declares Solomon to be king.
David’s charge to Solomon:
“Be strong, act like a man…obey the Law of Moses.”
David dies and Solomon becomes king.
Adonijah goes to Bathsheba and asks for Abishag in order to make a claim to the throne by sleeping with David's last concubine.
Bathsheba tells her son Solomon about this, and Solomon assumes Adonijah is once again trying to claim rights to the throne so he kills him.
Joab seeks refuge at the LORD’s altar, but Solomon kills him, too.
Solomon places Shimei (Saul's cousin who had cursed David) under house-arrest and eventually Shimei leaves his house and Solomon accuses him of treason and kills him. Before David died, he told Solomon to keep an eye on this guy because he was trouble. David had spared him, but he told Solomon that when he was king he could make his own decision about this trouble-maker, so Solomon killed him.
So essentially, when Solomon becomes king he starts off by wiping out all the competition.
So essentially, when Solomon becomes king he starts off by wiping out all the competition.
No comments:
Post a Comment