Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Samuel
Chapter 16: Let Him Curse, For the LORD Hath Bidden Him
On the road of his humiliation David meets deception, cursing, and betrayal. Ziba slanders Mephibosheth; Shimei hurls curses and stones; and in Jerusalem, Ahithophel's counsel drives Absalom to open shame. Yet the rejected king bears the reviling in meekness, trusting that God may yet requite him good.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Samuel chapter 16. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 16 walks the road of David's humiliation, where his meekness under reviling shines and Nathan's word is fulfilled. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Ziba's Deception (2 Samuel 16:1-4)
Ziba meets David with gifts and a slander against Mephibosheth, and David, hearing only one side, hastily gives him all.
Thine Are All That Pertained Unto Mephibosheth
"And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king."
Word Study
Ziba's slander, and the danger of the one-sided story. Ziba comes with well-timed gifts and a damning report: that Mephibosheth has stayed in Jerusalem hoping to seize the throne in the chaos. David, weary and pressed, believes it at once and grants Ziba all of Mephibosheth's estate, "thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth", without hearing the accused. Later (chapter 19) Mephibosheth gives a very different, and more credible, account, and David has to divide the property, tacitly admitting his haste. It is a lesson in the peril of judging on one side of a story, especially when the informer brings gifts and flattery. "He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him" (Proverbs 18:17); "he that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him" (Proverbs 18:13). Even the wise David, in a low and pressured moment, fell for a slanderer's convenient tale. We must beware of believing evil reports too quickly, especially of the absent who cannot answer, and of those whose flattery greases the accusation.
Explanation
As David flees, Ziba, the servant to whom David had entrusted Mephibosheth's lands (chapter 9), meets him with a generous supply of food, wine, and donkeys, welcome help in the wilderness. When David asks after Mephibosheth, Ziba claims his master stayed behind in Jerusalem, disloyally hoping the rebellion would restore Saul's throne to him. On the strength of this unverified charge, and no doubt swayed by the timely gifts, David rashly awards Ziba everything that belonged to Mephibosheth. Ziba bows with smooth words of gratitude. But the reader is left uneasy, for lame Mephibosheth could hardly have expected the throne, and the later chapter will show Ziba was very likely lying to enrich himself. David, in his distress, has judged too fast and rewarded a deceiver.
Gospel Focus
Even a godly man, when weary and pressed, can be deceived by a flatterer with a convenient story. Ziba's gifts oiled his slander, and David judged Mephibosheth unheard. The lesson is plain and practical: do not believe an evil report too quickly, and never condemn the absent on one side of the tale. "The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going" (Proverbs 14:15). Slander thrives where hearers are hasty and gifts persuade. In a world quick to accuse and quicker to believe, the people of God must be careful, fair, and slow to condemn, especially those who cannot answer for themselves. And how thankful we are that our righteous Judge is never deceived by any slander, never rewards a lie, and never condemns His own unheard, "the LORD looketh on the heart," and He will bring every hidden thing to light and set every record straight.
Shimei Curses David (2 Samuel 16:5-14)
Shimei showers David with curses and stones, but the king restrains his men and receives the reviling from God's hand.
So Let Him Curse
"And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man. Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day. And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there."
Word Study
"curse," Hebrew qalal (קָלַל), "to make light, treat with contempt, revile." Shimei, of Saul's clan, seizes David's lowest hour to qalal him, to heap contempt, hurling curses, stones, and dust, branding him "thou bloody man" and gloating that God has repaid him. Abishai, ever ready with the sword, wants to behead "this dead dog." But David's response is one of the great displays of meekness in Scripture: "let him curse, for the LORD hath bidden him... it may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and... requite me good." David neither retaliates nor even defends himself; he receives the reviling as, in some sense, from God's hand, a chastening he will bear, hoping for God's mercy in it. This is the very spirit of Christ, who "when he was reviled, reviled not again... but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously" (1 Peter 2:23). The humbled king, remembering his own sin, will not silence even an unjust tongue by force, but bows under it, trusting God to vindicate. There is a greatness in such restraint that no beheading of Shimei could ever match.
Explanation
At Bahurim, a man named Shimei, from Saul's family and bitter over the fall of Saul's house, comes out to curse the fleeing David, pelting him and his men with stones and dust, and accusing him of being a "bloody man" now justly repaid. Abishai, outraged, asks leave to kill him. But David restrains him and his brothers, the hot-tempered "sons of Zeruiah," with remarkable words: perhaps the LORD has told Shimei to curse; if his own son seeks his life, why be surprised at a Benjamite's curse? Let him curse; the LORD may yet look on David's affliction and repay good for the cursing. So David walks on under the barrage of curses and dust, weary but submissive, and rests at last, refreshed. His meekness under reviling, in the very depth of his humiliation, is the noblest thing in the chapter.
Gospel Focus
David under Shimei's curses is a shining picture of Christlike meekness, and a foreshadowing of the Saviour Himself, who bore far worse reviling in silence. When cursed, David did not retaliate; he received the affliction as under God's hand and left his vindication to the LORD, "it may be that the LORD will requite me good." This is the hard grace the gospel calls us to: "not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing" (1 Peter 3:9); "bless them which persecute you" (Romans 12:14). The humbled heart, mindful of its own sin, can bear an unjust curse without needing to strike back, trusting that God sees the affliction and will repay in mercy. And this is exactly how the Lord Jesus walked to the cross, reviled, spat upon, cursed, "as a sheep before her shearers is dumb" (Isaiah 53:7), committing all to the righteous Judge. When you are wronged and reviled, do not reach for Abishai's sword. Bow under it, bless, and trust the God who requites good for cursing.
Ahithophel's Counsel (2 Samuel 16:15-23)
Hushai infiltrates Absalom's court, and Ahithophel's counsel drives Absalom to public shame, fulfilling Nathan's word.
As If a Man Had Enquired at the Oracle of God
"And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king. And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend? And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide. And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence. Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom."
Word Study
"the oracle of God," Hebrew debar ha-Elohim (דְּבַר הָאֱלֹהִים), "the word of God." Ahithophel's counsel was so shrewd that men treated it "as if a man had enquired at the oracle (word) of God." Here was the finest human wisdom of the age, and it was bent entirely to evil, counseling Absalom to take his father's concubines publicly, an act of gross defiance meant to make the breach with David irreparable and rally the rebels. Yet even this wicked, brilliant counsel unwittingly fulfilled the exact word of God through Nathan: "I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun" (chapter 12:11-12). David's secret sin with Bathsheba now reaps its public harvest on the very palace roof from which he first saw her. The world's best wisdom, however oracular it seems, is folly when set against God, "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (1 Corinthians 3:19), and even the schemes of the wicked serve, in the end, the sovereign purposes of the LORD.
Explanation
Absalom enters Jerusalem in triumph, Ahithophel at his side. David's friend Hushai arrives and, playing his secret role, hails Absalom as king; when challenged about his loyalty, he gives a shrewdly ambiguous answer and is accepted into the court. Then Absalom asks Ahithophel for counsel, and Ahithophel advises the most brazen act possible: to take David's ten concubines publicly, on the palace roof, in the sight of all Israel. This would signal an unbridgeable break with David and steel the rebels' resolve. Absalom does it. The narrator notes that Ahithophel's counsel was esteemed almost as the word of God, so great was his reputation for wisdom. Yet in this very deed, the word of the LORD spoken by Nathan is fulfilled to the letter: what David did secretly is now done openly, under the sun, the bitter harvest of his sin come home.
Gospel Focus
Two solemn truths meet in this scene. First, the sovereignty of God over the harvest of sin: David's secret adultery is now answered by public shame, exactly as Nathan foretold, "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). Forgiven though David was (chapter 12:13), the temporal consequences ran their course; grace forgives guilt, but sin still reaps. Second, the folly of the world's wisdom against God. Ahithophel's counsel seemed as sure as an oracle, yet it served evil, and, as the next chapter shows, God would turn that very counsel "into foolishness" (chapter 15:31) to save David. "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD" (Proverbs 21:30). The cleverest human schemes cannot thwart God's purpose; indeed they unwittingly fulfill it. Let this both sober and comfort us: sow to the flesh and you will reap corruption, but the God who overrules even the counsel of the wicked can be trusted to bring His own through the fire. His word never fails, in judgment or in mercy.
Chapter 16 in Review
2 Samuel 16 walks the road of David's humiliation. Ziba meets the fleeing king with gifts and a slander against Mephibosheth, and David, hearing only one side, hastily grants Ziba all his master's lands. At Bahurim, Shimei of Saul's house curses David, throwing stones and dust and branding him a "bloody man"; but David restrains the vengeful Abishai and bears the reviling in meekness, "let him curse, for the LORD hath bidden him... it may be that the LORD will requite me good." In Jerusalem, Hushai slips into Absalom's court, and Ahithophel, whose counsel was esteemed as the oracle of God, advises Absalom to take David's concubines publicly, fulfilling to the letter Nathan's word that David's secret sin would be repaid openly under the sun.
For the Apostolic reader, the chapter teaches caution against the one-sided slander, Christlike meekness under unjust reviling, and the sovereignty of God over both the harvest of sin and the wisdom of the world. David bearing Shimei's curse without retaliation foreshadows the Saviour who, "when he was reviled, reviled not again," committing all to the righteous Judge. And the fulfilling of Nathan's word, even through the wicked counsel of Ahithophel, proclaims that no wisdom stands against the LORD, and that His word, in judgment and in mercy, never falls to the ground.
- David believed Ziba's one-sided slander; do not condemn the absent unheard, nor let gifts persuade you.
- David bore Shimei's curse in meekness, "let him curse", the very spirit of Christ, who reviled not again.
- He received affliction from God's hand, hoping "the LORD will requite me good for his cursing."
- Ahithophel's oracle-like counsel fulfilled Nathan's word; sin reaps openly, and no wisdom stands against God.
Questions for Reflection
- Are you quick to believe an evil report, especially of one who cannot answer?
- When reviled unjustly, do you reach for Abishai's sword, or bear it in meekness as David and Christ did?
- Do you see God's sovereign hand even over the harvest of sin and the schemes of the wicked?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Ziba's slander; the danger of the one-sided story: 2 Samuel 16:1-4; Proverbs 18:17; Proverbs 18:13; Proverbs 14:15.
- Shimei's curse; meekness under reviling: 2 Samuel 16:5-14; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 Peter 3:9; Romans 12:14; Isaiah 53:7.
- Ahithophel's counsel; sin's public harvest; the folly of worldly wisdom: 2 Samuel 16:15-23; 2 Samuel 12:11-12; Numbers 32:23; 1 Corinthians 3:19; Proverbs 21:30.