(5) Preparations for Revolt. The position at this time occupied by Absalom was very peculiar, and the view of it enables us to discover how far the general Oriental laws of primogeniture were affected by the peculiar conditions of the Hebrew constitution. At the outset he was the third son of David, Amnon and Chileab being his elder brothers. But it was possible that he might even then, while they lived, consider himself entitled to the succession ; and Orientai usage would not have discountenanced the pretension.
He alone was of royal descent by the side of his mother ; and royal or noble descent by the mother is even now of itself a sufficient ground of preference over an elder brother whose maternal descent is less distinguished. This circumstance, illustrated by Absaloni's sub sequent conduct, may suggest that he early entertained a design upon the succession to the throne, and that the remove! of Amnon was quite as much an act of policy as of revenge. The other elder brother, Chileab, appears to have died, as no mention is made of him after (2 Sam. iii :3), and if the claims of Absalom, or rather his grounds of pretension, were so important while Amnon and Chileab lived, his position must have been greatly strengthened when, on his return from exile, he found himself the eldest surviving son, and, according to the ordinary laws of primogeniture, the heir apparent of the crown. Such being his position, and his father being old, it would seem difficult at the first view to assign a motive for the conspiracy against the crown and life of his indulgent father, in which we soon after find hint engaged. It is then to be considered that the king had a dispensing power, and was at liberty, according to all Oriental usage, to pass by the eldest son and to nominate a younger to the succession This could not have affected Absalom, as there is every reason to think that David, if left to himself, would have been glad to have seen the rule of succession take its ordinary course in favor of his hest loved son. But then, again, under the peculiar theocratical institutions of the Hebrews. the Divine King reserved and exercised a power of dispensation, over which the human king, or viceroy. had no control. The house of David was established as a reigning dynasty ; and although the law of primogeniture was allowed eventually to take in general its due course, the Divine King reserved the power of appointing any member of that house whom He might prefer. That power had been exercised in the family of David by the preference of Solomon, who was at this time a child, as the successor of his father. David had known many years before that his dynasty was to be established in a son not yet born (2 Sam. vii :12) ; and when Solomon lAaz born, he could not be ignorant, even if not spe cially instructed, that lie was the destined heir. This fact must have been known to many others as the child grew up, and probably the mass of the nation was cognizant of it. In this we find a clear motive for the rebellion of Absalom—to secure the throne which he deemed to be his right by the laws of primogeniture, during the lifetime of his father ; lest delay, while awaiting the natural term of his days, should so strengthen the cause of Solomon with his years as to place his succession beyond all contest.
(6) Revolt. The fine person of Absalom, his superior birth, and his natural claim, predisposed the people to regard his pretensions with favor : and this predisposition was strengthened by the measures which he took to win their regard. In the first place he insinuated that he was the heir apparent, by the state and attendance with which he appeared in public; while that very state the more enhanced the show of condescending sym pathy with which he accosted the suitors who repaired for justice or favor to the royal audi ence, inquired into their various cases, and hinted at the fine things which might be expected if he were on the throne and had the power of accom plishing his own large and generous purposes. By these influences 'he stole the hearts of the men of Israel' (2 Sam. xv :1-6) ; and when at length, four years after his return from Geshur, he repaired to Hebron and there proclaimed himself king, the great body of the people declared for him. So strong ran the tide of opinion in his favor that David found it expedient to quit Jerusalem and retire to AIahanaim, beyond the Jordan (2 Sam. (7) Entry Into Jerusalem. When Absalom heard of this, he proceeded to Jerusalem and took possession of the throne without opposition. Among those who had joined him was Ahitho phel, who had been David's counsellor, and whose profound sagacity caused his counsels to be regarded like oracles in Israel (2 Sam. xv :3o-3i). This defection alarmed David more than any other single circumstance in the affair, and he persuaded his friend Hushai to go and join Absa lom, in the hope that he might be made instru mental in turning the sagacious counsels of Ahithophel to foolishness (2 Sam. xv :32-37). The first piece of advice which Ahithophel gave Absalom was that he should publicly take pos session of that portion of his father's harem which had been left behind in Jerusalem; thus fulfilling Nathan's prophecy (2 Sam. xii :ro-12). This was not only a mode by which the suc cession to the throne might be confirmed (see ABISI1AG: Comp. Herodotus, iii :68), but in the present case, as suggested by the wily counsellor, this villainous measure would dispose the people to throw themselves the more unreservedly into his cause, from the assurance that no possibility of reconcilement between him and his father re mained. Hushai had not then arrived. Soon after he came, when a council of war was held, to con sider the course of operations to be taken against David. Ahithopliel counselled that the king should be pursued that very night, and smitten, while he was 'weary and weak handed, and before he had time to recover strength' (2 Sam. xvii : r, 2). Hushai, however, whose object was to gain time for David, speciously urged, from the known valor of the king, the possibility and fatal conse quences of a defeat, and advised that all Israel should be assembled against him in such force as it would be impossible for him to withstand (2 Sam. xvii :5-13). Fatally for Absalom, the counsel of Hushai was preferred to that of Ahithophel ; and time was thus given to enable the king, by the help of his influential followers, to collect his resources, as well as to give the people time to reflect upon the undertaking in which so many of them had embarked (2 Sam.