← All Chapters The Book of 2 Samuel · Chapter 19

2 Samuel 19: The King Comes Home

Joab rebukes David's grief, and the king is brought back over the Jordan amid pardon, reunion, and quarrels over loyalty.

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2 Samuel 19 (WEB)

1 It was told Joab, “Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom.”

2 The victory that day was turned into mourning to all the people; for the people heard it said that day, “The king grieves for his son.”

3 The people sneaked into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

4 The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, “My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “You have shamed this day the faces of all your servants, who this day have saved your life, and the lives of your sons and of your daughters, and the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines;

6 in that you love those who hate you, and hate those who love you. For you have declared this day, that princes and servants are nothing to you. For today I perceive that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it would have pleased you well.

7 Now therefore arise, go out, and speak to comfort your servants; for I swear by Yahweh, if you don’t go out, not a man will stay with you this night. That would be worse to you than all the evil that has happened to you from your youth until now.”

8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. They told to all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” All the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.

9 All the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.

10 Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why don’t you speak a word of bringing the king back?”

11 King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? Since the speech of all Israel has come to the king, to return him to his house.

12 You are my brothers, you are my bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?’

13 Say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you aren’t captain of the army before me continually in the room of Joab.’”

14 He bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as one man; so that they sent to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.”

15 So the king returned, and came to the Jordan. Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.

16 Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

17 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 through the Jordan in the presence of the king.

18 A ferry boat went to bring over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he had come over the Jordan.

19 He said to the king, “Don’t let my lord impute iniquity to me, nor remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

20 For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore behold, I have come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall Shimei not be put to death for this, because he cursed Yahweh’s anointed?”

22 David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For don’t I know that I am this day king over Israel?”

23 The king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” The king swore to him.

24 Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither groomed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.

25 When he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?”

26 He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, I will saddle me a donkey, that I may ride on it, and go with the king; because your servant is lame.

27 He has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God. Do therefore what is good in your eyes.

28 For all my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more to the king?”

29 The king said to him, “Why do you speak any more of your matters? I say, you and Ziba divide the land.”

30 Mephibosheth said to the king, “Yes, let him take all, because my lord the king has come in peace to his own house.”

31 Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went over the Jordan with the king, to conduct him over the Jordan.

32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old: and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.

33 The king said to Barzillai, “Come over with me, and I will sustain you with me in Jerusalem.”

34 Barzillai said to the king, “How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

35 I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?

36 Your servant would but just go over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward?

37 Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to you.”

38 The king answered, “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to you. Whatever you require of me, that I will do for you.”

39 All the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. Then the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.

40 So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with him. All the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half the people of Israel.

41 Behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away, and brought the king, and his household, over the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?”

42 All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is a close relative to us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s cost? Or has he given us any gift?”

43 The men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, “We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more claim to David than you. Why then did you despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king?” The words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

Summary

David's mourning turns the army's victory into shame, and the people steal back into the city as if defeated. Joab confronts the king bluntly, warning that his grief is dishonoring the men who saved his life and that he must go out and encourage them or lose them all. David rises and sits in the gate. As the tribes debate bringing the king back, David appeals to Judah and appoints Amasa, Absalom's commander, over the army in place of Joab. Returning over the Jordan, David is met by a stream of people seeking favor. Shimei, who had cursed him, begs forgiveness and is spared. Mephibosheth explains how Ziba deceived him and gladly yields his property, glad only that the king is home. Aged Barzillai, who had supplied David in exile, declines a place at court and sends his servant Chimham instead. The chapter ends in rising tension, as the men of Israel and the men of Judah quarrel bitterly over who has the greater claim to the king.

Main Characters

  • David — The restored king who must be roused from grief, who extends mercy to Shimei and Mephibosheth, and honors the aged Barzillai.
  • Joab — The general who sternly rebukes David's mourning for the army's sake, and whom David replaces with Amasa.
  • Shimei — The man who had cursed David, now begging forgiveness as the first of Saul's house to welcome the king home, and is spared.
  • Barzillai — The aged Gileadite who sustained David in exile and humbly declines royal reward, sending Chimham in his place.

Key Verse

2 Samuel 19:22 (WEB)

David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For don’t I know that I am this day king over Israel?”

Lessons Learned

  • Even right grief must not be allowed to paralyze our duty to those who depend on us.
  • A wise leader hears hard truth from a faithful, if blunt, counselor.
  • A day of restoration is a fitting day for mercy rather than vengeance.
  • Faithful, humble servants like Barzillai may seek no reward, content simply to have served the king.
  • Grief must not abandon responsibility. Joab warns that David's mourning shames those who saved him (2 Samuel 19:5-7, WEB). Sorrow is right, but leaders must still rise to comfort and lead their people.
  • Restoration is a season for mercy. David refuses to execute Shimei: “Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel?” (2 Samuel 19:22, WEB). A day of homecoming calls for pardon, not score-settling.
  • True devotion seeks the king, not his gifts. Mephibosheth says, “let him take all, because my lord the king has come in peace” (2 Samuel 19:30, WEB). Loving the king himself outweighs any property at stake.
  • Humble service expects no reward. Old Barzillai declines court honors and asks nothing (2 Samuel 19:34-37, WEB). The most faithful servants often desire only to have been of use.
  1. How does Joab confront David, and was he right to speak so sharply to a grieving king?
  2. Why does David choose to spare Shimei rather than have him executed on the day of his return?
  3. What does Mephibosheth's response—glad to lose everything if only the king is home—reveal about his heart?
  4. Why might Barzillai decline David's offer of a place at court, and what do we learn from his humility?
  5. When grief or disappointment tempts you to neglect those who depend on you, what helps you, like David, to rise and serve again?
  1. Joab tells David plainly that his mourning has humiliated the army and that he must go out to them or lose every man (19:5-7). It was harsh but necessary; a king's private grief was undermining the very people who had risked their lives. Faithful friends sometimes must speak uncomfortable truth.
  2. David recognizes that the day of his restoration is no time for bloodshed and extends mercy to the man who had cursed him (19:22-23). His secure sense of being king lets him be magnanimous rather than vengeful, choosing reconciliation over retribution.
  3. Mephibosheth, having been slandered by Ziba, cares nothing for the disputed land and rejoices only that David has returned safely (19:30). His joy is in the king's presence itself, a picture of love that treasures the Lord above any earthly benefit.
  4. Barzillai, at eighty, feels too old to enjoy court life and wishes to die near his parents' grave, asking only that Chimham be cared for (19:34-37). His contentment and lack of grasping show a servant who gave freely and sought no reward, an example of selfless faithfulness.
  5. This is a personal-application question. David had to be called out of his sorrow to lead again. Invite members to consider areas where grief or discouragement has caused them to withdraw from responsibility, and to take one step back toward serving others. As leader, hold together permission to grieve and the call to keep loving those entrusted to us.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.