Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, by R.A. Torrey, [ca. 1880], at sacred-texts.com
Overview
Sa2 18:1, David viewing the armies in their march gives them charge of Absalom; Sa2 18:6, The Israelites are sorely smitten in the wood of Ephraim; Sa2 18:9, Absalom, hanging in an oak is slain by Joab, and cast into a pit; Sa2 18:18, Absalom's place; Sa2 18:19, Ahimaaz and Cushi bring tidings to David; Sa2 18:33, David mourns for Absalom.
captains of thousands: Sa1 8:12
a third part: Jdg 7:16, Jdg 7:19, Jdg 9:43
the hand of Joab: Sa2 10:7-10
Ittai: Sa2 15:19-22
I will surely: Sa2 17:11; Psa 3:6, Psa 27:1-3, Psa 118:6-8
Thou shalt: Sa2 21:17
if we flee: Sa2 17:2; Kg1 22:31; Zac 13:7
care for us: Heb. set their heart on us
but now: The particle attah, Now, is doubtless a mistake for the pronoun attah, Thou, and so it appears to have been read by the LXX, Vulgate, and Chaldee, and by two of Kennicott's and De Rossi's manuscripts.
worth: etc. Heb. as ten thousand of us, Lam 4:20
succour: Heb. be to succour, Sa2 10:11; Exo 17:10-12
by the gate: Sa2 18:24; Isa 28:6
by hundreds: David's small company, by this time, was greatly recruited; but what its number was we cannot tell. Josephus says it amounted only to 4,000 men. Sa2 18:1; Sa1 29:2
Deal gently: Sa2 16:11, Sa2 17:1-4, Sa2 17:14; Deu 21:18-21; Psa 103:13; Luk 23:34
all the people: Sa2 18:12
wood of Ephraim: The wood of Ephraim was evidently beyond Jordan, and apparently not far from Mahanaim; and it is supposed to be the place where the Ephraimites were slain by Jephthah. Jos 17:15, Jos 17:18; Jdg 12:4-6
the people: Sa2 2:17, Sa2 15:6, Sa2 19:41-43
twenty thousand men: Sa2 2:26, Sa2 2:31; Ch2 13:16, Ch2 13:17, Ch2 28:6
in the wood, That is, probably, many more were slain in pursuit through the wood than in the battle, by falling into swamps, pits, etc., and being entangled and cut down by David's men. Such is the relation of Josephus; but the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic state, that they were devoured by wild beasts in the wood. Exo 15:10; Jos 10:11; Jdg 5:20, Jdg 5:21; Kg1 20:30; Psa 3:7, Psa 43:1
devoured more: Heb. multiplied to devour
his head: Riding furiously under the thick boughs of a great oak, which hung low and had never been cropped, either the twisted branches, or some low forked bough of the tree, caught him by the neck, or, as some think, by the loops into which his long hair had been pinned, which had been so much his pride, and was now justly made a halter for him. He may have hung so low from the bough, in consequence of the length of his hair, that he could not use his hands to help himself, or so entangled that his hands were bound, so that the more he struggled the more he was embarrassed. This set him up as a fair mark to the servants of David; and although David would have spared his rebellious son, if his orders had been executed, yet he could not turn the sword of Divine justice, in executing the just, righteous sentence of death on this traitorous son. Sa2 18:14, Sa2 14:26, Sa2 17:23; Mat 27:5
taken up: Deu 21:23, Deu 27:16, Deu 27:20; Job 18:8-10, Job 31:3; Psa 63:9, Psa 63:10; Pro 20:20, Pro 30:17; Jer 48:44; Mar 7:10; Gal 3:13
receive: etc. Heb. weigh upon mine hand
in our hearing: Sa2 18:5
Beware: etc. Heb. Beware, whosoever ye be, of the, etc
wrought: Sa2 1:15, Sa2 1:16, Sa2 4:10-12
for there is no: Sa2 14:19, Sa2 14:20; Heb 4:13
with thee: Heb. before thee
thrust them: Sa2 18:5; Jdg 4:21, Jdg 5:26, Jdg 5:31; Psa 45:5; Th1 5:3
midst: Heb. heart, Mat 12:40
blew the trumpet: Sa2 2:28, Sa2 20:22; Num 10:2-10; Co1 14:8
laid: This was the ancient method of burying, whether heroes or traitors; the heap of stones being designed to perpetuate the memory of the event, whether good or bad. The Arabs in general make use of no other monument than a heap of stones over a grave. Thus, in an Arabic poem, it is related, that Hatim the father, and Adi the grandfather of Kais, having been murdered, at a time before Kais was capable of reflection, his mother kept it a profound secret; and in order to guard him against having any suspicion, she collected a parcel of stone on two hillocks in the neighbourhood, and told her son that the one was the grave of his father, and the other of his grandfather. The ancient cairns in Ireland and Scotland, and the tumuli in England, are of this kind. Jos 7:26, Jos 8:29, Jos 10:27; Pro 10:7; Jer 22:18, Jer 22:19
reared up: Sa1 15:12
the king's: Gen 14:17
I have no son: Sa2 14:27; Job 18:16, Job 18:17; Psa 109:13; Jer 22:30
he called: Gen 11:4; Sa1 15:12; Psa 49:11; Dan 4:30
Absalom's place: Josephus says there was in his time, about two furlongs from Jerusalem, a marble pillar called Absalom's hand, as it is in the Hebrew (see note on Sa1 15:12); and there is one shown to the present day, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which, though comparatively a modern structure, probably occupies the site of the original one set up by Absalom. Gen 11:9; Act 1:18, Act 1:19
Ahimaaz: Sa2 18:23, Sa2 18:27-29, Sa2 15:36, Sa2 17:17
avenged him: Heb. judged him from the hand, etc. Psa 7:6, Psa 7:8, Psa 7:9, Psa 9:4, Psa 9:16, Psa 10:14, Psa 10:18; Rom 12:19
bear tidings: Heb. be a man of tidings, Sa2 17:16-21
because: Sa2 18:5, Sa2 18:27, Sa2 18:29, Sa2 18:33
howsoever: Heb. be what may
ready: or, convenient, Rom 1:28; Eph 5:4
overran Cushi: Joh 20:4
the watchman: Kg2 9:17-20; Isa 21:6-9, Isa 21:11, Isa 21:12; Eze 33:2-7
thinketh: Heb. I see, Kg2 9:20
He is a good: Kg1 1:42; Pro 25:13, Pro 25:25; Isa 52:7; Rom 10:15
All is well: or, Peace be to thee, Heb. Peace, he fell down upon his face, This act was not only in reverence to the king, but in humble adoration of God, whose name he praises for this victory. The more our hearts are fixed and enlarged, in thanksgiving to God for our mercies, the better disposed we shall be to bear with patience the afflictions mixed with them. Sa2 1:2, Sa2 14:4
Blessed: Sa2 22:27; Gen 14:20, Gen 24:27; Ch2 20:26; Psa 115:1, Psa 124:6, Psa 144:1, Psa 144:2; Rev 19:1-3
delivered up: Heb. shut up, Sa1 24:18, Sa1 26:8; Psa 31:8
Is the young man Absalom safe: Heb. is there peace to, etc. I saw a great. Sa2 18:19, Sa2 18:20, Sa2 18:22
Tidings: Heb. Tidings is brought
the Lord: Sa2 18:19, Sa2 18:28, Sa2 22:48, Sa2 22:49; Deu 32:35, Deu 32:36; Psa 58:10, Psa 94:1-4, Psa 124:2, Psa 124:3; Luk 18:7, Luk 18:8; Cushi was the man Joab ordered to carry the tidings to David. He was an Ethiopian, as his name signifies, and some think he was so by birth - a black, who waited on Joab, probably one of the ten who had helped to dispatch Absalom; though it was dangerous for one of those to bring the news to David, lest his fate should be the same with theirs that reported the death of Saul and Ishbosheth to him.
The enemies: Thus Cushi obliquely and slowly informs David of the death of his son Absalom. Jdg 5:31; Psa 68:1, Psa 68:2; Dan 4:19
O my son: Sa2 19:4
would God: Sa2 12:10-23; Psa 103:13; Pro 10:1, Pro 17:25; Jam 5:17