and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maachah, daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;
This verse names David's second and third sons with their mothers: Abigail, Nabal's widow, and Maacah, daughter of a king in Geshur, outside Israel. These opening verses list six sons by six wives, and they raise a hard question: what house was David building while his throne grew stronger?
The family list reads like evidence of success. Commentators see something else. The law had already spoken to Israel's king about wives, and David owned the books that said so.
David takes several wives at Hebron besides Ahinoam and Abigail, his companions in his wanderings. Had he asked the Lord before doing so, what would the Lord have replied? Read my Word! Dependence on God and dependence on His Word are one and the same thing. David had the books of the law in hand, and he needed only to meditate on them to see his path. Does it not say in Deuteronomy 17:17 concerning the king: "He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away"? By human reasoning he might have had good reasons for what he did — to secure a royal line, and so on. But this was not according to God. To be convinced of this we need only trace the descendants of his wives. Had David had only godly Abigail as his companion, would he have seen an Amnon bring shame and dishonour upon his house, an Absalom rebel against his own father, or an Adonijah try to seize control of the kingdom?
Maacah was no ordinary wife. Her father ruled Geshur, outside Israel. This marriage crossed a second line, not just the one about numbers.
David's third son was Absalom, meaning "Father of Peace", which tells us the longing of David's heart for peace after the long weary years of war and wandering. But who was Absalom's mother? Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. This was worse and worse. Not only did David multiply wives, but to find wives of royal birth, he turned to the heathen nations about him. This was also in express disobedience and defiance of God's often-repeated command that they were not to take wives from the nations around them. How could David expect a blessing from the offspring of such a match? It was little use giving the son of this wife a name with such a beautiful meaning, when he was born of a marriage made in deliberate disobedience to the clear Word of God.
Chileab appears here and is never mentioned again in the story. He is listed under a second name, Daniel, in another record of David's family:
Second son of David by Abigail. 2 Sam. 3:3: called DANIEL in 1 Chr. 3:1.
His silence in the record shapes everything that follows, because the sons behind him kept assuming the throne was theirs.
By Abigail he had Daniel, or Chileab, of whom we read nothing. He probably died young, for, on Amnon's death, Absalom, the third son, looked forward to the throne. After Absalom's wretched end, Adonijah, the fourth son, regarded the throne as his right by birth. The Lord did build David a sure house, but Abigail had no share in the building of it.
The verse names the mother, not just the son. That detail carries weight later.
Throughout the course of these books we shall see how the character of their mothers and where they came from had its influence upon their children. A pious mother sees her sons prospering round about her.
Even a list born of failure is not wasted. Commentators find a second layer in these six names.
We now read of David's six sons, each by a different wife (vv. 2-5). Never was it God's intention that a man should have more than one wife. At the beginning He had said, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife" — not "his wives." … Far above men's natural thoughts, God also used this occasion to show distinct features of the Lord Jesus in His coming kingdom. … This drives home a striking truth. God can overrule man's failure to serve the greater purpose of exalting His beloved Son on high.
One writer finds the same pattern in Chileab's name:
The second son is Chileab, and this number speaks of service. The name fits it well: it seems to mean "the instrument of the Father." He is the son of Abigail, whose name means "father (or cause) of exultation" — which is what Israel will be to Christ, when she is redeemed and brought out of her former relationship.
- Cause. David stopped asking. He held God's written rule for a king's marriages, and followed political reasons instead.
- Seed. Each wife named here is a seed sown. Rossier traces Amnon's shame, Absalom's revolt and Adonijah's grab for the throne back to this list.
- Compromise. Absalom's mother was a foreign king's daughter, chosen for royal rank. A beautiful name meaning "Father of Peace" could not undo the disobedience behind the marriage.
- Silence. Chileab, also called Daniel, is named once and never heard of again. With him gone, Absalom and Adonijah each counted the throne as theirs.
- Overruling. God is not defeated by the mess. Commentators read these six names as a picture of Christ's coming kingdom. God can turn human failure toward exalting His Son.
and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;
Verse 4 names two more sons born to David at Hebron, each by a different wife. The list looks like a bare family register. But commentators read these names in two ways: as the root of David's later grief, and as a picture of the kingdom of Christ.
The fourth son named here, Adonijah, appears again at the end of David's life:
He seems to have been the oldest of David's sons at the end of David's life. He may have supposed that he would succeed to the throne. But he did not consult his father. He said, "I will be king," and both Joab and Abiathar helped him. David at once proclaimed Solomon as king.
David did not ask the Lord about these marriages. One writer shows where the answer was already waiting for him:
David takes several wives at Hebron besides Ahinoam and Abigail, his companions in his wanderings. Had he asked the Lord before doing so, what would the Lord have replied? Read my Word! Dependence on God and dependence on His Word are one and the same thing. David had the books of the law in hand, and he needed only to meditate on them to see his path. Does it not say in Deuteronomy 17:17 concerning the king, "He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away"? By man's thinking he might have had all sorts of good reasons for doing as he did — to secure a royal line, and so on. But this was not according to God. We need only trace the descendants of his wives to be sure of it. Suppose David had taken only godly Abigail as his companion. Would he then have seen an Amnon bring shame on his house, an Absalom rebel against his own father, or an Adonijah try to seize control of the kingdom?
The same writer traces Adonijah's later grasp for the crown back to his birth and his home:
Born immediately after Absalom, though of another mother, he no doubt thought he had the same claim as Absalom to the kingdom. He "exalted himself, saying, I will be king." Pride, an unchecked will that had never been curbed, and a high opinion of himself all drove him. He was "a very handsome man." His flaws had been fed by his father's weakness, a weakness that had contributed so greatly to the disasters of David's own life... "His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, Why have you done this?" Families of believers often see their testimony ruined through the weakness of the parents. In sparing the rod with their children they bring the rod upon themselves, as well as dishonour upon Christ. God never acts like this. His discipline is the proof of His love toward us.
One writer reads each son together with his mother:
The fourth son, Adonijah, means "my Lord is Jah," and he is the son of Haggith, "festive," one who keeps Jehovah's feast. This shows us how the taste of Jehovah's grace brings us into subjection to Him as Lord over us; and this is how the Lord's rule is endeared to His own... Jehovah's feasts were times of gathering to and around Himself. Now, much more plainly, He is cultivating intimacy with us; and the more we respond and enter into this, the more will His rule be established over us. The nearer we are to Him, the greater He is to us.
The fifth son is read the same way:
The fifth son's name, Shephatiah, means "Jah judges." He is the son of Abital, "father (or source) of cover," or "protection." The thought is simplicity itself. This is what true judgment is appointed to do. When judgment returns to righteousness, this is what it will be found to give: the protection of man from man — sad that such protection should be needed. When Jehovah judges in the earth openly and plainly, as He will do, how will the earth rest and be secure?
Another writer starts further back, with God's design for marriage:
Never was it God's intention that a man should have more than one wife. At the beginning He had said, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife" — not "his wives." Yet under law God bore with bigamy and polygamy because of the hardness of men's hearts... God used this occasion to show distinct features of the Lord Jesus in His coming kingdom... God can overrule man's failure to serve the greater purpose of exalting His beloved Son on high.
- Seed. David took wives at Hebron without consulting God's Word. He reaped the harvest later in Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah.
- Silence. Adonijah's grasp at the throne grew in a home where a father never once asked his son, "Why have you done this?"
- Rod. Parents who spare the rod bring the rod on themselves. God shows His love by His discipline, not by indulgence.
- Names. "My Lord is Jah" and "Jah judges": His rule grows dearer as we draw near, and His judgment ends in shelter.
- Overruling. God bore with the failure and still made the family list serve the glory of His Son's coming kingdom.