“A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom: Oh God! How many have my enemies become! many rise up against me!” Psalm 3
Whether the psalms were composed by King David or not (we’ll get there...) this one is not only attributed to him but also chronicles a precise and painful moment in his biography.
David didn’t see it coming. Or maybe he did? Half way through this chapter he’ll follow in the barefoot footsteps of rulers before him, leading the way for many others in history who will flee their palaces in a hurry, fearing for their lives. Like some of them, the threat will be coming from within his home. Few of them perhaps will also compose prayers while on the run. Or perhaps none of those pleas were preserved for posterity.
Prince Absalom is the handsomest man in the land, we are told, with hair so thick he shaves it off each year it weighs over 2 pounds. Beauty matters in this royal family. David was the one once admired for his looks. So it’s one of the reasons Absalom becomes very popular - how he will be able to convince more of the people to support his claim to the throne -- while his father is still alive.
It’s of course ironic that his name means ‘Father of Peace’ or ‘My father Brings Peace’.
Absalom’s insurrection is a complicated political story that will take us through the next few chapters, as good as any spy thriller, and chillingly relevant to what’s happening in the news right now.
Absalom begins his campaign to replace his father by taking on the judicial system. He gets fifty men on his security detail, running around his chariot. And each morning he attends the gates where the people come to seek justice. He exploits the flaws in David’s bureaucratic system and crafts his own image as the champion of the masses, promising them, populist style, to protect their claim no matter their causes.
Isn’t this how campaigns against current regimes always get traction? Absalom asks people at the courts where they are from before he asks what their legal case is. Prof. James A. Diamond notes that “Absalom’s first question regarding what town the disputant comes from and its elicited response, “from one of the Israelite tribes,” are revealing...Absalom pointedly targets David’s bias favoring his own tribe to the detriment of all other Israelites. Once the litigant identifies himself as outside David’s clan, Absalom offers an impartial alternative to David’s prejudiced judicial administration. Fueling civil unrest garners Absalom popular support needed to ensure a successful insurgency already stirring in the first verse describing his ominous formation of a private militia, “Absalom provided himself with a chariot, horses, and fifty runners.”
With more and more people convinced that the king’s justice system is rigged against them, Absalom’s next campaign step is a devious trip to Hebron, the city in the Judean territory where his father was crowned king. With his militia and a growing base of fans the prince demands the crown. He must have gained serious popularity because King David flees Jerusalem as soon as he hears the news. He takes his personal security detail and some family members but leaves ten of his lesser wives behind, to guard the palace. Also left behind are the high priests Zadok and Eviatar, along with the Ark of YHWH. It’s too risky to take along, or perhaps he remembers the tragic fate of the ark the last time it was taken out to battle on the run.
The mighty king leaves his city in a rush and with tears:
וְדָוִ֡ד עֹלֶה֩ בְמַעֲלֵ֨ה הַזֵּיתִ֜ים עֹלֶ֣ה ׀ וּבוֹכֶ֗ה וְרֹ֥אשׁ לוֹ֙ חָפ֔וּי וְה֖וּא הֹלֵ֣ךְ יָחֵ֑ף וְכׇל־הָעָ֣ם אֲשֶׁר־אִתּ֗וֹ חָפוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ רֹאשׁ֔וֹ וְעָל֥וּ עָלֹ֖ה וּבָכֹֽה׃
“David climbed up the slope of the Mount ofOlives, weeping as he went; his head uncovered, walking barefoot. And all the people who were with him uncovered their heads and wept as they climbed up.”
For those of us who know Jerusalem it’s quite easy to imagine the map. I’ve walked up the Mount of Olives many times, with the Temple Mount behind me, and the steep hill leading to the summit and then descent to the Judean desert. David is no longer young, and his fast escape must have been because his fear is real and the prospect of Abaslom’s takeover seems assured.
But not all is lost yet. There are several important advisors and courtiers whose words will matter in the unfolding of this drama in ways more powerful than that of the king or the prince. These kingmakers are the heroes - or villains - of the next chapter, as the fight for the fate of the House of David continues.
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Appreciating your storytelling, poignant detail, intriguing allusions to the prefigurations of later historical coups and subversions. You have a gift for summary. No small thing in an undertaking this large. But you are, first and foremost, a styoryteller.