And David went up by the ascent of [Mount]
Olivet
So called from the olive trees that grew upon it, which is often
mentioned in the New Testament, and where our Lord Jesus Christ,
the antitype of David, often was, in his state of humiliation, (
Matthew
26:30 ) ( Mark 14:26 ) ( Luke 22:39 ) , and from
whence he ascended to heaven after his resurrection, ( Acts 1:12 ) ; it was
about a mile from Jerusalem, to the east of it:
and wept as he went up;
thinking perhaps of the wickedness and rebellion of his son, of
his own hard case, to be obliged to quit his metropolis and
palace, and make his flight afoot; and perhaps also of his own
sins, which were the cause of his calamities:
and had his head covered;
with his mantle, with which he enwraped himself as a mourner, (
2 Samuel
19:4 ) ; so the Egyptians used to cover their heads in
mourning, and the Romans in later times F17; so
Megara in sorrowful circumstances is represented as having her
head covered with a garment F18:
and he went barefoot;
in token of mourning also, and like one forlorn, and going into
captivity, see ( Isaiah 20:2 ) (
Micah 1:8 ) ;
and all the people that [was] with him covered every man
his head;
as David did, and in imitation of him, and sympathizing with him;
and which was sometimes done when men were ashamed and
confounded, ( Jeremiah
14:3 Jeremiah
14:4 ) ;
and they went up, weeping as they went up;
the mount of Olivet, grieved for their king, and the distresses
and calamities that were coming upon them.