BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

The final chapters of 2 Samuel echo its beginning. David’s rival for the crown is slain in battle. The king is weeping as he assumes Israel’s throne. This time, after years of suffering, David is a shell of his former self.

Consumed by despair over Absalom’s death, David fails to see his soldiers recoil from his wailing. Joab tries to wake David to reality, but grief and regret cloud his judgment until carelessness sets in.

He demotes Joab and subjects the army’s new commander to Joab’s wrath. Mephibosheth shows integrity and unswerving loyalty; David responds by letting Mephibosheth’s dishonest servant steal half his estate. David baits the people of Judah into being the first to reinstall him as king, driving a wedge between the tribes.

Due to David’s negligence, chaos and violence ravage the nation for several more chapters. The conflict ends when a quick-thinking woman cuts off the revolt at its head, both literally and figuratively.

As you’ll see in the readings today and tomorrow, the stories in 2 Samuel’s epilogue have been arranged in symmetrical pairs that compare and contrast David and Saul’s reigns. The outer pair of stories compares the failures of Saul (2 Sam. 21a) and David (2 Sam. 24), as well as the harm they cause through misguided decision-making.

The inner pair of stories (2 Sam. 21b and 23b) shows David and his band of mighty men fighting the Philistines. But when Goliath’s sons show up to fight, David can no longer stand up to giants. The valiant young shepherd boy has faded to a frail figurehead. David came in with a bang. Will he go out with a whimper?

Reflection Questions

• Where else in the biblical story have you seen a woman end a battle by dealing a mortal blow to the enemy leader’s head? What might these hyperlinks reveal about the wise woman in 2 Samuel 20:14-22?
• Why do you think the biblical authors included David’s tragic downfall in the book of Samuel? What wisdom might they be inviting you to learn from the results of his decisions?