Man of Blood (2 Samuel 16:7-8)
Man of Blood (2 Samuel 16:7-8) The last post about ‘the blood of Jesus’ brought to mind the time when David was accused of being a ‘man of blood’. The setting is David’s escape from Jerusalem due to the Absalom…
Category 2 Samuel
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa!
“And he [Joab] took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. …Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them.” (2 Samuel…
Friendship
“So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.” (2 Samuel 15:37). 2 Samuel 15 describes the enormous grief for David when the news of the Absalom rebellion reaches the ear of the king. David…
Flesh and Spirit
“The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together.” (Isaiah…
Leithart on the heart
I’ve been preparing a sermon on Romans 6 this week. The baptism language of Paul (6:1-4) drew me to read Peter Leithart’s book on ‘Baptism – A Guide to Life from Death‘ (2021). It’s a great little read on the…
Wisdom in 2 Samuel 13
I find that 2 Samuel 13 raises quite a few interpretation questions for me as I read it. In some ways the broad themes are very clear but there are all these small details and words and phrases which connect…
Interpreting 2 Samuel 13:1-22
“But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar.” (2 Samuel 13:22 ESV). I was a little surprised to come across a reference to a Cotterell and Turner’s book…
The humble Dane and David
“O God, even though I am very little before you, this little, this being nothing before thee – is for me infinitely much. All else is to me worth nothing, absolutely nothing.” (Soren Kierkegaard). I don’t quite know where I…
Firth on Samuel
The cover up – 2 Samuel 11. David Firth has written quite a long commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel in the Apollos series. I haven’t found the commentary style and format the easiest to work with though there are…
A Surprising Omission
Dale Ralph Davis made my ‘Top 5 commentaries on 2 Samuel‘. He did so easily. It’s a superb commentary. There is a quote of Alec Motyer on the front cover of my edition which captures my sentiments: ‘I have lost…