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SECTION V.

THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM.

GIVE some account of Absalom?

ABSALOM the son of David by Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur, was the handsomest man of his age. He was particularly distinguished by the abundance and beauty of his hair, which when periodically cut, was found to weigh two hundred shekels by the king's standard, that is about thirty-one ounces. He was a young man of aspiring and unbounded ambition; he was capable of carrying on the most nefarious designs under the most plausible appearances; and he was restrained by no principles of conscience, by no sentiments of humanity, by no sense of obligations, either human or divine, in the prosecution of his comprehensive plans. After the murder of his brother, he fled to his father-in-law at Geshur, and for three years he was an exile from Jerusalem. Joab, however, that most valiant of soldiers, and able of generals, but most insidious, cruel, and vindictive of men, observing that the king still retained a strong affection for his wicked and unnatural son, by the artful interposition of a wise woman from Tekoah, procured the royal consent for Absalom's return; but though he was permitted to reside in Jerusalem, he was still excluded from the presence of his father. At length the vigorous measures of Absalom, who burnt the standing corn of Joab, to compel that warrior to complete his reconciliation with David, proved effectual; he had an interview with his father, the strong paternal affection of the king incapacitated him for any further alienation, and Absalom was taken to his bosom. But the restless ambition of this truly wicked young man, was by no means satisfied. With abominable perfidy, he plotted against the government of his father, and determined to tear the crown from his head. He began by ingratiating himself with the people, intercepting them in their attempts to gain access to the royal presence, represent

ing the insuperable difficulty of procuring redress for their grievances, and by his pretended sympathy alienating their affections from his father, and obtaining them for himself. And all this, at the same time, was accompanied with a splendour of appearance, and a magnificence of retinue, which was most likely to impress the minds, and attract the admiration of the populace.

Describe the rebellion of Absalom against David?

A. C. 1023.

At length the standard of rebellion was unfurled. Upon the pretext of a sacred vow which he had made during his residence in Geshur, Absalom asked, and obtained, permission to go from Jerusalem to Hebron, attended by two hundred men who were ignorant of his treasonable design. At Hebron he blew his trumpet; numbers of the fickle and seditious people obeyed the summons; at the head of a powerful army, he commenced his march towards Jerusalem; so rapid was the advance, and so unprepared was the king, that resistance was hopeless, and it became necessary immediately to evacuate the metropolis. Most afflictive was the scene, and most impressive the exhibition of the evanescence of all sublunary grandeur, when a great monarch whose name had been the terror of the East, and whose glorious exploits had elevated his empire to the highest pitch of prosperity and renown, was seen flying with every token of humiliation and mourning, before a rebellious son-a son too, upon whom he had so lately lavished the manifestations of parental tenderness. David was still attended by his faithful guards, those brave men who had retained their attachment for him through every change of his fortune, from the hour when they assembled near the cave of Adullam, to the day when he fled a melancholy exile from Jerusalem. The fallen are never destitute of those, who are ready to defraud, to insult, and to defame. First, Ziba, to whom David had intrusted the administration of the estate of Mephibosheth, came and obtained from the distressed monarch, a fraudulent grant of the whole inheritance : and then Shimei the son of Gera, a kinsman of Saul, met him at Bahurim, hurled stones at him with bitter imprecations and curses, and denounced the ven

geance of a retributive providence for his conduct to the late sovereign of the Israelites.

What were the proceedings of Absalom after the flight of his father?

Absalom in the mean time took possession of Jerusalem without resistance; and then two events occurred which must have agonized the heart of David, and brought to his recollection, in the most painful manner, his crime in the matter of Bethsheba and Uriah. His concubines whom he had left behind him in the palace, were openly dishonoured by Absalom, in precise accordance with the denunciation of Nathan. And Ahithophel, one of his principal counsellors, a man renowned for his political sagacity and experience, embraced the cause of Absalom, and devoted all his prudence and wisdom to establish the usurper on the throne. Jewish writers state, that this man was the grandfather of Bathsheba; if their assertion be correct, it is very probable that the reason of his adherence to Absalom, was his sense of the injury done to his family by the wickedness of the king. Such however was the apprehension which David entertained of the coalition of this formidable counsellor with his rebellious son, and so oracular do the decisions of that artful and penetrating politician appear to have been considered at that time, that Hushai, an Archite and a faithful friend of David, was sent to Jerusalem to feign allegiance to Absalom, and to counteract the machinations of Ahithophel. There was abundant reason for the exertion of all his eloquence and influence. Had the counsel of Ahithophel been followed, humanly speaking, the ruin of David would have been inevitable. He earnestly recommended the instant pursuit of the king, while his men were weary, and before he had time to reinforce his dispirited troops; he offered to be himself the conductor of the enterprise; he declared that with twelve thousand men he would accomplish it, and that having slain David, he would bring his followers before the throne of Absalom. Had it not been for the ingenious and plausible representations of Hushai, this recommendation, the only one which under the circumstances of the case ought to have been adopted, would

have been followed. But Hushai described David and his men as so terrible for their personal valour exasperated by despair, that he persuaded Absalom to defer the pursuit until the whole force of his adherents had been collected. Ahithophel easily perceived in this measure, the ruin of Absalom, and the destruction of his followers; and convinced, that upon the victory of David, his own doom would be signal and his death most probably ignominious, he hastily returned to his house, he became his own executioner, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers.

How did the rebellion of Absalom terminate?

The decisive conflict between the army of David, commanded by the gallant and invincible Joab, and that of Absalom, commanded by Amasa, his cousin, the nephew of David, took place at Mahanaim, a city of the Levites, on the brook Jabbok, and in the tribe of Gad. Before the commencement of the battle, David, whose affection for his unhappy son continued undiminished and unalterable, gave a strict charge to all his officers to spare Absalom in the heat of the battle, in the exultation of the victory, in the fury of the pursuit. His affectionate solicitude was useless. The struggle was soon decided. The raw troops of Absalom were unable to resist the intrepid veterans of his father, and were scattered over the country. Absalom himself as he fled was caught by the hair by a branch of a tree; Joab was soon informed of the helpless condition of his enemy, and with that stern cruelty which formed so conspicuous a feature of his character, he hurried to the spot with three javelins in his hand, and transfixed the heart of the usurper. David, who had been persuaded by his men to remain in the city, anxiously awaited the result of the battle. The tidings came that his troops had gained a decisive victory, but that Absalom was slain. The passionate grief of the king for the death of his rebellious son, excited the murmurs of his men, and the reproof of Joab. David repressed his concern, he took the necessary steps to avail himself of the full consequences of the victory, he reascended the throne, he published an act of amnesty for all the adherents of his unfortunate son, he reinstated Mephibosheth in the

possession of the estate of which he had been deprived by the representations of Ziba, he bestowed rewards upon those who had distinguished themselves by their unshaken loyalty, and the order of the administration and of the kingdom was completely restored.

Name an ominous circumstance which took place on the return of David to Jerusalem.

An event occurred on the return of David to his capital which may be regarded as predictive of the division of the kingdom in the reign of Rehoboam. He was met on his way to Jerusalem by a large proportion of his people, in which the tribe of Judah was most conspicuous. The prominent part which this tribe acted in the royal restoration, and, perhaps, the peculiar favour which it received on account of its loyalty, excited the jealousy and disgust of the rest of the Israelites. The altercation which took place on this occasion, produced another rebellion. A seditious demagogue, Sheba, the son of Bichri, sounded his trumpet and gave the usual signal of insurrection, "To your tents O Israel! we have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse." The king acted on this occasion with his accustomed promptitude and vigour. He commanded Amasa, to whom he was now fully reconciled, to collect the troops of Judah, and to pursue the traitor with indefatigable diligence. Amasa executed his commission so negligently, that Abishai, was sent with what troops were at hand to quell the revolt. The ever-active Joab, also, at the head of the king's guards, whose valour, fidelity, and prowess, had been proved in many a bloody field, marched with so much celerity, that he overtook and besieged Sheba in the city of Abel. The fears of the inhabitants, and the wise advice of a prudent woman in the city, induced them to sacrifice the traitor for their own security. His head was thrown over the walls, the seige was raised, and the dangerous rebellion was quelled. But the success of Joab was sullied by another act of murderous treachery, which attaches eternal infamy to his name. As he was on his march after Sheba, he was joined by Amasa; Joab approached him with the semblance of friendship, but while the words, "Art thou in health my brother?"

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