The contest between David and Absalom is now hasting towards a crisis. It must be determined by the sword, and preparation is made accordingly in this chapter. I.

Absalom is now in peaceable possession of Jerusalem; the palace-royal is his own, as are the thrones of judgment, even the thrones of the house of David.

We must now leave David’s enemies pleasing themselves with the thoughts of a sure victory by following Hushai’s counsel, and sending a summons, no doubt, to all the tribes of Israel, to come to the general rendezvous at a place appointed, pursuant to that counsel; and we next find David’s friends…

Here is, I. The transporting of David and his forces over Jordan, pursuant to the advice he had received from his friends at Jerusalem, 2 Sam. 17:22. He, and all that were with him, went over in the night, whether in ferryboats, which probably always plied there, or through the fords, does not…