Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 16-17.

The first element of today’s passage is the account of Ziba, whom David had placed as manager over the property which had been Saul’s and which David had given to Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son.  Ziba brought supplies for David and his men as they fled Jerusalem.  When David inquired after Mephibosheth, Ziba told him that Mephibosheth was staying in Jerusalem because he thought the Israelites would make him king.  From what we are told when Mephibosheth greeted David on David’s return to Jerusalem, we know that this was not true.  I am noting this in because I may go into more detail about that when we get to the passage about David’s return.  The next element is the account of Shimei cursing David as he left Jerusalem.  Joab’s brother, Abishai, requested David’s permission to kill Shimei for cursing David.  Abishai was probably, at least in part, seeking to take out his anger about being forced to flee from Absalom on Shimei.  David however told Abishai that, since his own son was seeking his life, perhaps God had told Shimei to curse him.  I have always wondered why David reacted so strongly to Abishai.  It occurred to me today that perhaps after needing to flee from his own son, and then the apparent betrayal by Mephibosheth, the son of his best friend, David felt like he deserved to be cursed.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.