2 Samuel 3:16

And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) Weeping behind her.—Phaltiel appears to have been sincerely attached to Michal, and it may be supposed that his affection was reciprocated. But it is to be remembered that she was not rightfully his wife, and that David’s claim was prior as well as better. According to 1Samuel 25:44, Phaltiel was of Gallim, a place thought, from the connection in which it is mentioned in Isaiah 10:30, to have been in Benjamin, and not far from Gibeah; but he had probably crossed the Jordan with the adherents of the house of Saul. Bahurim was on the road from the Mount of Olives to the Jordan valley, and hence on the way from Mahanaim to Hebron, and a long distance from the former. It was the residence of Shimei (2Samuel 16:5), and the place of concealment of David’s messengers, Jonathan and Ahimaaz (2Samuel 17:18).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:7-21 Many, like Abner, are not above committing base crimes, who are too proud to bear reproof, or even the suspicion of being guilty. While men go on in sin, and apparently without concern, they are often conscious that they are fighting against God. Many mean to serve their own purposes; and will betray those who trust them, when they can get any advantage. Yet the Lord serves his own designs, even by those who are thus actuated by revenge, ambition, or lust; but as they intend not to honour him, in the end they will be thrown aside with contempt. There was real generosity both to Michal and to the memory of Saul, in David's receiving the former, remembering probably how once he owed his life to her affection, and knowing that she was separated from him partly by her father's authority. Let no man set his heart on that which he is not entitled to. If any disagreement has separated husband and wife, as they expect the blessing of God, let them be reconciled, and live together in love.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bahurim - Best known as the residence of Shimei, and as the place where Jonathan and Ahimaaz were concealed in a well on the occasion of David's flight from Absalom 2 Samuel 16:5; 2 Samuel 17:18. It seems to have been situated in the southern border of the tribe of Benjamin, and on the route from Jerusalem to the Jordan fords, since Phaltiel came from Mahanaim 2 Samuel 2:8.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12, 13. Abner sent messengers to David—Though his language implied a secret conviction, that in supporting Ish-bosheth he had been laboring to frustrate the divine purpose of conferring the sovereignty of the kingdom on David, this acknowledgment was no justification either of the measure he was now adopting, or of the motives that prompted it. Nor does it seem possible to uphold the full integrity and honor of David's conduct in entertaining his secret overtures for undermining Ish-bosheth, except we take into account the divine promise of the kingdom, and his belief that the secession of Abner was a means designed by Providence for accomplishing it. The demand for the restoration of his wife Michal was perfectly fair; but David's insisting on it at that particular moment, as an indispensable condition of his entering into any treaty with Abner, seems to have proceeded not so much from a lingering attachment as from an expectation that his possession of her would incline some adherents of the house of Saul to be favorable to his cause.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Bahurim; a city of Benjamin, upon the borders of Judah. See 2 Samuel 19:16 1 Kings 2:8.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And her husband went with her along weeping behind her,.... Because of his great affection to her, unwilling to part with her, but forced to it at the command of the king her brother:

to Bahurim; a city in the tribe of Benjamin, 2 Samuel 19:16; perhaps the same with Almon, Joshua 21:18; these two words being of the same signification; and the Targum has it hero Almuth; so Alemeth in 1 Chronicles 6:60. It seems to be the same Josephus (c) calls Bachures, and says it was not far from Jerusalem. Bunting (d) says it was something more than a mile towards the northeast, and at this time is a fair castle strongly fortified, standing in a high place, and in the valley near it, at the stone Bohan, Joshua 15:6; see 2 Samuel 17:18,

then said Abner to him, go, return, and he returned; by which it appears that Abner came with her to introduce her to David, without whom he was not to see his face; and he did not choose her husband should go with her any further, and was at his orders obliged to go back, who otherwise would have gladly accompanied her further still, through his great affection for her.

(c) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. (d) Travels, p. 144.

Geneva Study Bible

And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. Bahurim] A village mentioned again only in connexion with David’s flight from Jerusalem as the residence of Shimei (ch. 2 Samuel 16:5), and the place where Jonathan and Ahimaaz hid themselves (ch. 2 Samuel 17:18). It belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, and was on the road from Jerusalem over the Mount of Olives to the Jordan fords. A Jewish tradition in the Targum identifies it with Almon (Joshua 21:18), now Almît, about 4 miles N.E. of Jerusalem, and a mile beyond Anathoth (Anâta). According to this view, which is adopted by Lieut. Conder, it was not on the main road through Bethany, but on a road which leads across the saddle north of the principal summit of the Mount of Olives.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - Her husband went with her along weeping behind her. "Along weeping" is a very awkward rendering of the Hebrew phrase, "going and weeping." The Revised Version is far better, "weeping as he went and followed her." Phaltiel had been Michal's husband for eight or nine years, and his sorrow at losing her excites sympathy for them both. They had evidently loved one another, and she was now going to be but one of many wives; and though David may have desired her restoration because he valued her and cherished the remembrance of their youthful affection, yet there was a large admixture of political motive in his conduct. At Gallim she had been Phaltiel's one jewel, and had been loved for her own sake; at Hebron she would have many rivals. But women of royal rank have often to pay the price of sacrificed affections for the ends of statecraft. Near Bahurim, on the road from Jerusalem to Gilgal, in the valley of the Jordan, the convoy approached the borders of Judah, and Abner will not allow the weeping husband to enter David's dominions. Painful as was his fate, he had himself done wrong in marrying another man's wife; and if he was weeping now, we may well believe that David had felt equal anguish when Michal was torn from him and sold to another, - for fathers in those days received instead of giving a dowry upon the marriage of their daughters. Saul in this matter was most to blame, and if he had not committed this wrong, David might never have sought an evil solace in multiplying to himself other wives 2 Samuel 3:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

When he went with his wife, weeping behind her, to Bahurim, Abner commanded him to turn back; "and he returned." Bahurim, Shimei's home (2 Samuel 19:17; 1 Kings 2:8), was situated, according to 2 Samuel 16:1, 2 Samuel 16:5, and 2 Samuel 17:18, upon the road from Jerusalem to Gilgal, in the valley of the Jordan, not far from the Mount of Olives, and is supposed by v. Schubert (R. iii. p. 70) to have stood upon the site of the present Abu Dis, though in all probability it is to be sought for farther north (see Rob. Pal. ii. p. 103). Paltiel had therefore followed his wife to the border of the tribe of Judah, or of the kingdom of David.