History · Chapter 19 of 24
2 Samuel 19
Joab rebukes David for mourning Absalom so bitterly that he shames the army that saved him, and David rouses himself to greet the people. He works to bring the tribes back under his rule, pardons the cursing Shimei, sorts out the tangled claim between Ziba and Mephibosheth, and blesses the aged Barzillai. As David returns over the Jordan, jealous strife breaks out between the men of Judah and Israel over the king.
What happens in 2 Samuel 19
David's grief for Absalom turns the army's victory into mourning, and the troops slink back ashamed. Joab bluntly warns David that by loving his enemies and shaming his friends he will lose every man unless he goes out and speaks to them; David rises and sits in the gate. He courts the tribes, especially Judah, to bring him back, appointing Amasa over the army in Joab's place. At the Jordan, Shimei, who had cursed him, begs forgiveness, and David swears not to put him to death.
Mephibosheth comes unwashed in mourning, explaining that Ziba deceived and slandered him; David, unable to sort the truth, splits the land between them, and Mephibosheth gladly yields it all, glad the king is home. David honors the aged Barzillai, who declines a place at court and sends his servant Chimham instead. Then the men of Israel and Judah quarrel bitterly over who has more right to the king.
2 Samuel 19 in context
With Absalom dead, David faces the harder work of reuniting a fractured nation. His mercy toward former enemies, Shimei and the house of Saul through Mephibosheth, aims to heal rather than punish, though political calculation mingles with grace. The unresolved Ziba and Mephibosheth case shows a weary king no longer able to judge cleanly.
The closing quarrel between Judah and Israel exposes the fault line that will finally split the kingdom after Solomon and immediately fuels Sheba's revolt in chapter 20.
Main themes of 2 Samuel 19
2 Samuel 19 (KJV)
1And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. 2And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son. 3And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. 4But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! 5And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines; 6In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. 7Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now. 8Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent. 9And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom. 10And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back? 11And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house. 12Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king? 13And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. 14And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants. 15So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan. 16And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David. 17And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king. 18And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan; 19And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart. 20For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king. 21But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed? 22And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel? 23Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him. 24And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace. 25And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth? 26And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame. 27And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes. 28For all of my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king? 29And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land. 30And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house. 31And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan. 32Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. 33And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem. 34And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem? 35I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? 36Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward? 37Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee. 38And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee. 39And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place. 40Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel. 41And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David’s men with him, over Jordan? 42And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king’s cost? or hath he given us any gift? 43And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
Verses to carry from 2 Samuel 19
“And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?”2 Samuel 19:22
“And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.”2 Samuel 19:30
“And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.”2 Samuel 19:43
Thematic connection
How 2 Samuel 19 points to Jesus
David returns to his throne after suffering and exile, and his coming back is marked by mercy: enemies pardoned, the mourner's shame lifted, the divided people summoned home. It offers a faint foretaste of the King who, having suffered and been rejected, returns in triumph offering amnesty to those who opposed him. On the day of his restoration David forgives Shimei rather than avenging himself, as Christ, risen and vindicated, extends forgiveness even to those who crucified him, sending the gospel first to Jerusalem.
And Mephibosheth's response models the believer's heart: he counts every earthly loss as nothing next to the king's safe return, just as Paul counts all things loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. The joy is in the King himself, come home.
Questions about 2 Samuel 19
Why does David spare Shimei, who had cursed him?
On the day of his return David refuses to make it a day of executions, swearing that no one in Israel shall be put to death (2 Samuel 19:22, 19:23). Politically it helps reunite the nation, but the gesture also fits David's earlier restraint in chapter 16, when he received Shimei's cursing as possibly from God. The returning king chooses mercy over vengeance, though he later, near death, leaves the matter to Solomon.
What does Mephibosheth's reaction to losing his land reveal?
When David, unable to untangle the truth, divides the estate between Ziba and Mephibosheth, Mephibosheth replies that Ziba may take it all, since the king has come home in peace (2 Samuel 19:30). His treasure is not property but the king's safe return and his own place at the table. It is a striking picture of valuing the king himself above every possession, contentment rooted in relationship rather than in gain.
Reflection
Mephibosheth counted his lost inheritance as nothing beside the joy of the king coming home. What losses might you hold more loosely if the presence of the King were truly your treasure? And on your good days, will you follow David in choosing mercy over settling old scores?
A prayer from 2 Samuel 19
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