The six chapters from 18 until the end of 2 Samuel in chapter 24 again raised lots of questions, as we should expect from a detailed record of events that took place around 1070 to 1050 BC. In any case, the outcome was that after the rebellion of Sheba (the last chief of the Absalom insurrection*) is ended by Joab in chapter 20, Israel is finally united under David. Thus the narrative of 2 Samuel proceeds to its conclusion with the same detailed and complex history of Israel’s early monarchy that has characterised both 1 and 2 Samuel. The demands on careful reading are significant if the reader is to make sense of the sequence of events by connecting events and individuals with earlier stages in the narrative in 1 Samuel and the preceding historical books.
* According to Smith’s Bible Names Dictionary.
The content of chapters 18-24 has been summarised as follows:
- Death of Absalom (18:1-19:8a)
- David’s return to Jerusalem (19:8b-43)
- Sheba’s rebellion (20:1-26)
- Famine and the death of Saul’s sons (21:1-14)
- Philistine wars (21:15-22)
- Song of David (22:1-51)
- Last words of David (23:1-7)
- David’s heroes (23:8-39)
- The census (24:1-25)
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/1-2-samuel/#outline
The key to the failure of Absalom’s insurrection seems to have been the counsel of Hushai the Archite (17:11-12) who was working for David undercover, pretending to be an ally of Absalom. Hushai counsels Absalom to go into Battle in person, whereas Ahithophel had proposed to lead an attack on David himself (17:1-3). In this way, the prayer of David in 15:31, that God would turn Ahithophel’s counsel ‘into foolishness’, is answered as Absalom disregards Ahithophel’s proposal, decides to lead the battle himself as Hushai had counselled, and is killed (18:9-15). The men of David’s army instigate the tactic that succeeds when David says (18:3-4) he will go out with them to battle:
3 But the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.” 4 The king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
Therefore Hushai and the men of Israel assure victory for David, simply by encouraging Absalom to lead the battle and keeping David away from it. Though as noted above, this wasn’t quite the end of the military struggle, which was achieved by the quashing of Sheba’s rebellion in chapter 20.
Chapters 21-24 have been described as the epilogue to 2 Samuel that follows the defeat of Absalom’s insurrection and the uniting of the kingdom of Israel. The ESV/Global Study Bible has this summary:
The last four chapters provide an epilogue to David’s story. They contain six episodes, which are not necessarily in chronological order (e.g., the first episode occurred “in the days of David”; 21:1). The first describes a famine and its connection to Saul’s family. The second details David’s wars with Philistia. The third and fourth are psalms of David. The fifth lists David’s heroic warriors. The sixth describes David’s pride and its results, concluding with the important story of how David acquired the future site of the temple.
The end of the book in chapter 24 records the inglorious episode of David’s census that followed 24:1, which starts Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel… which is not explained and so inevitably becomes the subject of conjecture in relation to the events that follow, which include the loss of 70,000 fighting men. The website gotquestions.org provides some good material for further reflection: Why was God so angry at David for taking the census?
A positive footnote can be added to this strange and distressing chapter, however, when we discover that the location of the altar David builds for sacrifice in obedience to the prophet Gad and to atone for the census, is on Mount Moriah, where Abraham passed a momentous test of faith in God when was ready to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord (Gen 22) and where Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem (2 Chron 3:1).NB the name Araunah in 2 Samuel 24 becomes Ornan in 1 and 2 Chronicles, but it is clear that the location is the same.
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