2 Kings 15:6
And this he did to all Israel that came for judgment, to be heard by the king, and he enticed the hearts of the men of Israel.
Open 2 Kings 15:6 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Faciebatque hoc omni Israël venienti ad judicium ut audiretur a rege, et sollicitabat corda virorum Israël.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ ἐποίησεν Ἀβεσσαλὼμ κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο παντὶ Ἰσραὴλ τοῖς παραγινομένοις εἰς κρίσιν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ ἰδιοποιεῖτο Ἀβεσσαλὼμ τὴν καρδίαν ἀνδρῶν Ἰσραήλ.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַיַּ֨עַשׂ אַבְשָׁל֜וֹם כַּדָּבָ֤ר הַזֶּה֙ לְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁר יָבֹ֥אוּ לַמִּשְׁפָּ֖ט אֶל הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַיְגַנֵּב֙ אַבְשָׁל֔וֹם אֶת לֵ֖ב אַנְשֵׁ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל
Haydock's commentary
Enticed. Hebrew, "stole." The people were not aware of his designs. (Calmet)
Absalom rendered them dissatisfied with the present government, and led them to expect better days, under his administration. (Haydock)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St John Chrysostom The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians, Ephesians 4.31
Do ye not see that malice is blind? Have ye never heard, that he that diggeth a pit for his neighbors, diggeth it for himself? How, it may be said, ought we not to fear a soul full of tumult? If indeed we are to fear the bitter in the same way as we fear evil spirits, and fools and madmen, (for they indeed do everything at random,) I grant it myself; but if we are to fear them as men skillful in the conduct of affairs, that never. For nothing is so necessary for the proper conduct of affairs as prudence; and there is no greater hindrance to prudence than wickedness, and malice, and hollowness. Look at bilious persons, how unsightly they are, with all their bloom withered away. How weak they are, and puny, and unfit for anything. So also are souls of this nature. What else is wickedness, but a jaundice of the soul? Wickedness then has no strength in it, indeed it has not. …
St Ambrose On the Duties of the Clergy, Chapter XXII. We must observe a right standard between too great mildness and excessive harshness. They who endeavour to creep into the hearts of others by a false show of mildness gain nothing substantial or lasting. This the example of Absalom plainly enough shows
114. Absalom was King David’s son, known for his beauty, of splendid appearance and in the heyday of youth; so that no other such man as he was found in Israel. He was without a blemish from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. He had for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men to run before him. He rose at early dawn and stood before the gate in the way, and whoever he knew to be seeking the judgment of the king, he called to himself, saying: “From what city art thou?” And he answered: “I thy servant am of one of the tribes of Israel.” And Absalom answered: “Thy words are good and right. Is there none given thee by the king to hear thee? Who will make me a judge? And whosoever will come unto me, that hath need of judgment, I will give him justice.” With such words he cajoled them. …