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And David numbered the people that [were] with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.

And David numbered the people. — Which seem to be by this time not so few as four thousand, as Josephus reporteth them, or seven thousand, as Comestor, but many more; so that he was confident of the victory, and gave charge concerning Absalom, that his life should be spared.

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And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.

I will surely go forth with you myself also. — If he had done so when Joab went against Rabbah of the Ammonites, he had done well: for

“ Quaeritus Aeysthus quare sit factus adulter

In promptu causa est, desidiosus erat. ”

Nero, Commodus, Galienus, and other cowardly and voluptuous princes, are blamed for idling and rioting at home, when their armies were against the enemy. But it may well be thought, that this motion of David’s to go in person, was in favour of Absalom, and to see that he were not cut off by any of the army.

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But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now [thou art] worth ten thousand of us: therefore now [it is] better that thou succour us out of the city.

But now thou art worth ten thousand of us. — Christ, of whom David was a type, is "the chief of ten thousand": and so every good heart holdeth him. When David was in danger of being slain by Ishbibenob the giant, Abishai interposed and rescued him. 2 Samuel 21:17 When our Henry II was in imminent peril of his life at the siege of Bridgenorth, A.D. 1155, Hubert de St Clare preserved his sovereign’s life with the loss of his own. Speed, 501. When Mauricius, the young Saxon prince, valiantly charging the Turks at the siege of Pesth, had his horse slain under him, and was in danger to have been there lost himself, Nicholas Ribische, one of his own followers, covered him with his own body, till such time as he was rescued by others, Ribische himself presently dying of his wounds. Turk. Hist., 730. A commen soldier at Musselburgh field, in Edward VI’s time, finding the Earl of Huntly assaulted by the English, and without his helmet, took off his own headpiece, and put it on the earl’s head. The earl was therewith taken prisoner, but the soldier, for want thereof, was presently struck down. Life of Edward VI, by Sir J. Heywood. John Careless, martyr, in a letter to Mr Bradford in prison, writeth thus, ‘Oh that my life, and a thousand such wretches’ lives more, might go for yours! Oh, why doth God suffer me and such other caterpillars to live, that can do nothing but consume the alms of the Church, and take away so worthy a workman and labourer in the Lord’s vineyard! But woe be to our sins and great unthankfulness,’ … Act. and Mon., 1744. A public spirited man is all for Christ; and can drown all self-respects in his glory. Vivat et regnet Christus, Let Christ live and rule, is his motto. He is also much taken up with the care of community, and will venture his own particular good for the general: as heavy things will ascend to keep out vacuity, and to preserve the universe.

Therefore now it is better that thou succour us out of the city. — Si fueris nostra causa, pervigil, so Tremellius rendereth; Si fueris nobis praesto civitate, so Piscator. Thou thence shalt help us, or cause us to be helped; thy prayers shall prevail with God for our assistance, - so others, - that God may send us in the supplies of his Spirit, Philippians 1:19 and thou also may help us with fresh supplies of men and victuals, as there shall be occasion.

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And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate side, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.

What seemeth you best I will do. — So meekly doth David submit himself to the will of his men. Affliction and meekness grow both on the same root in the holy tongue. "A man of understanding is of an excellent" - or, of a cool - "spirit." Proverbs 17:27

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And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, [Deal] gently for my sake with the young man, [even] with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.

Deal gently for my sake. — Heb., Leniter propter me, sc., agite. Though he hath deserved no favour, yet do something for me, who cannot grow out of kind, though he doth, who cannot choose but love him after all the unkindness, and am much afraid lest he should die in his sins. This is said to be the best line in all Terence,

“ Pro peccato magno paulum supplicii satis est patri. ”

A little punishment for a great offence seemeth to a father to be enough. It doth so surely to our heavenly Father. Laudent alii pietatem Dei, ego misericordiam. August.

And all the people heard. — But no man ever heard David threaten, that if they slew Absalom, he would slay himself, as Josephus falsely saith that he did.

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So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;

And the battle was in the wood of Ephraim. — So called, because it was opposite Ephraim; or because forty-two thousand Ephraimites there once lost their lives. Judges 12:5-6

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Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand [men].

Where the people of Israel were slain. — For a just reward of their unjust rebellion: besides a great sort of them who having tasted of the sweetness of war, dulce bellum inexpertis, threw down their arms, and ran home ad beatos rastros, benedictura aratrum, sanctamque stivam, Bucholc. as the divine chronologer saith of the seditious boors of Germany beaten by the princes, together with Munzer, their general, who was taken and executed according to his deserts.

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For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

And the wood devoured more people that day. — While in running from death, they ran to it; sive in stipites impegerint, sive in arbores illisetint, sive in scrobes, praecipitia aut etiam feras inciderint; whether they fell upon the stubs, or fell into the ditches, or were hanged in the trees, or devoured by wild beasts, or were slain there in the pursuit, or knocked on the head by the country people; quod arguit hanc divinam esse vindictam, saith Jerome.

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