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2 Samuel 16

David’s retreat and Absalom’s advance expose disputed loyalties, restraint under insult, and the use of sexual wrongdoing to secure power.

David is fleeing his son Absalom when Ziba meets him with supplies and an accusation against Mephibosheth. David grants Ziba his master’s property. At Bahurim, Shimei curses David and throws stones, but David refuses Abishai’s offer to kill him. Meanwhile, Absalom enters Jerusalem, where David’s friend Hushai declares his service to him. Ahithophel advises Absalom to have sexual relations with his father’s concubines in public, making the breach with David plain and strengthening his supporters’ resolve.

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1When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a container of wine.
2The king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?” Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that those who are faint in the wilderness may drink.”
3The king said, “Where is your master’s son?” Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem; for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore me the kingdom of my father.’”
4Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.”
5When King David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of Saul’s house came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out and cursed as he came.
7Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and wicked fellow!
8The LORD has returned on you all the blood of Saul’s house, in whose place you have reigned! The LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son! Behold, you are caught by your own mischief, because you are a man of blood!”
9Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head.”
10The king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’”
11David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my son, who came out of my bowels, seeks my life. How much more this Benjamite, now? Leave him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD has invited him.
12It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that the LORD will repay me good for the cursing of me today.”
13So David and his men went by the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, threw stones at him, and threw dust.
14The king and all the people who were with him arrived weary; and he refreshed himself there.
15Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
16When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, had come to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”
17Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”
18Hushai said to Absalom, “No; but whomever the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, I will be his, and I will stay with him.
19Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence.”
20Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel what we shall do.”
21Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.”
22So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
23The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God. All the counsel of Ahithophel was like this both with David and with Absalom.
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Key verses
2 Samuel 16:12David leaves repayment with YHWH, expressing hope for good without claiming to know how God will act.
2 Samuel 16:5Shimei’s connection to Saul’s house places his curses within the contested history of David’s kingship.
2 Samuel 16:21Ahithophel turns the violation of David’s household into a political strategy meant to bind Absalom’s followers to his rebellion.
Where this chapter reaches

David’s refusal to let Abishai kill Shimei shares with 1 Samuel the pattern of David restraining violence against someone hostile to him. Proverbs warns against judging before hearing both sides, a concern raised here when David transfers Mephibosheth’s property after hearing Ziba’s accusation alone.

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After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about David’s quick judgment of Mephibosheth beside his restraint toward Shimei?

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How does Ahithophel’s advice challenge the assumption that a trusted counselor’s words must be good?

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Questions people ask about 2 Samuel 16

Why did David let Shimei curse him?

David refuses to let Abishai kill Shimei because he sees the humiliation as something under YHWH’s rule. He also hopes God may repay him with good. David speaks of God directing Shimei, but the narrative records no separate divine command to Shimei and does not confirm his accusations.

Why did Absalom sleep with David’s concubines?

Ahithophel advises this act to make Absalom’s break with David unmistakable and strengthen his followers’ commitment. Taking his father’s concubines also asserts a claim over the royal household. The rooftop tent makes the act public. The women are used to advance Absalom’s claim to power; their response is not recorded.

Was Ziba telling the truth about Mephibosheth?

This chapter reports Ziba’s claim that Mephibosheth stayed in Jerusalem expecting his ancestral kingdom to be restored. It does not provide Mephibosheth’s account or establish that the claim is true. David grants Ziba the property without hearing from Mephibosheth, so the accusation remains untested within this chapter.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).