And thy handmaid had two sons
Two are observed, that her case might suit with Amnon and
Absalom:
and they two strove together in the field;
they quarrelled, and fought in the field, where there were no
witnesses of what they did to each other; whereby she would
suggest that Ammon was killed in the field, of which there were
no witnesses, and therefore Absalom ought not to die; whereas it
was in Absalom's house, at his table, and where the rest of the
king's sons were present, and witnesses of it:
and [there was] none to part them;
which, had there been, might have prevented the sad disaster;
this, as Abarbinel thinks, is pointed at David, who when Amnon
forced Tamar, did not correct him for it, nor seek to make peace
between the brethren, and hence followed what had happened:
but the one smote the other, and slew him;
as say the accusers of him that is living; for the fable supposes
there was none with them; however, she suggests, as the above
writer observes, that one gave the first blow, and so was the
aggressor; and that he that was smitten rose up in his own
defence, and in his passion slew him that smote him; which is
observed to lessen the crime, and to intimate that Amnon was the
aggressor, who first began the sin and quarrel, in ravishing
Tamar, and so reproaching Absalom; and therefore his blood was
upon his own head.
