Foes and Family

The battle fought in Gibeah kicks off a “long war” between the house of Saul (meaning Ishbosheth, with Abner being the power behind the throne) and the house of David. Matthew Henry finds this somewhat surprising. He writes in his commentary, “It is not strange that there was war between them, but one would wonder it should be a long war, when David’s house had right on its side, and therefore God on its side; but, though truth and equity will triumph at last, God may for wise and holy ends prolong the conflict.” Still, our text notes that a definite trend emerges—David’s cause grows stronger, while Ishbosheth’s grows weaker. “The house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker, lost places, lost men, sunk in its reputation, grew less considerable and was foiled in every engagement,” Henry notes. “But the house of David grew stronger and stronger. Many deserted the declining cause of Saul’s house, and prudently came into David’s interest, being convinced that he would certainly win the day.”

David’s seven and a half years in Hebron certainly prove to be blessed years for him in terms of children. We are told that six sons are born to him during this time. Sadly, however, each of the boys is born to a different wife of David. Somehow he has overlooked one of the clear divine guidelines for kings: “Neither shall [the king] multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away” (Deut. 17:17a). Perhaps even more disturbing is that the third wife mentioned here is the daughter of the king of Geshur, a small kingdom to the north of Ishbosheth’s territory. It appears that David may have entered this marriage to cement an alliance against Ishbosheth. However, the Geshurites are not believers; no Israelite should intermarry with them.

As far as Scripture tells us, none of these sons grow to be men who walk with God in covenant faithfulness, and, as we will see, three of them bring David great heartache. Amnon rapes his sister and is killed by Absalom (2 Sam. 13). Though David forgives Absalom for Amnon’s murder (2 Sam. 14), Absalom rebels against David and is eventually killed by Joab (2 Sam. 15–18). Adonijah also rebels against David in response to David’s decree that Solomon shall succeed him, and is eventually executed by Solomon after David dies (1 Kings 1–2). These “blessings,” being ill-gotten, bear ill fruit.