Ahithophel - It has been with great probability supposed that Ahithophel was estranged from David by personal resentment for his conduct in the matter of Bath-sheba and Uriah (see 2 Samuel 11:3).

While he offered sacrifices - Rather, that Absalom sent for Ahithophel to be present when he offered the sacrifices; the intention being that all who partook of the sacrifice should be bound together to prosecute the enterprise. Absalom, too, would take advantage of the excitement of the great feast to inflame the ardour of the guests, and pledge them irrevocably to his cause.

Sent for Ahithophel - When Absalom got him, he in effect got the prime minister of the kingdom to join him.

And Absalom sent for Ahithophel, the Gilonite, David's counsellor,.... To advise with about this treasonable affair he was engaged in, and to get out of him David's secrets, who was reckoned the best counsellor in the land; and he might rather hope he would come to him, if he was the grandfather of Bathsheba, as say the Jews, 2 Samuel 11:3; since he might be disgusted with and resent David's adultery with Bathsheba his granddaughter, and the murder of her husband Uriah: him he sent for:

from his city, even from Giloh; a city in the tribe of Judah, in the mountainous part of it, near to Hebron, where Absalom now was; and, according to Bunting (i), twenty miles from Jerusalem, see Joshua 15:48,

while he offered sacrifices; not Ahithophel, but Absalom, his peace offerings at Hebron, to which he invited Ahithophel to come and partake of:

and the conspiracy was strong; or there was a great number in the conspiracy, who were assembled together:

for the people increased continually with Absalom; being drawn to him by the comeliness of his person, his affable behaviour, the pomp and magnificence in which he appeared, the great number of the principal inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and he the king's eldest son, and so heir to the crown; whereas it might begin to be rumoured about, that David designed Solomon, a son of Bathsheba, a young prince, to be his successor, which did not meet with general approbation at first.

(i) Travels, &c. p. 149.

Moreover, Absalom sent for Ahithophel, David's councillor, to come from his own town Giloh, when he offered the sacrifices. The unusual construction of את ישׁלח with מעירו may be explained from the pregnant character of the expression: he sent and bade come, i.e., he summoned Ahithophel out of his city. Giloh, Ahithophel's home, was upon the mountains of Judah, to the south or south-west of Hebron (see at Joshua 15:51). Ahithophel had no doubt been previously initiated into Absalom's plans, and had probably gone to his native city, merely that he might come to him with the greater ease; since his general place of abode, as king's councillor, must have been in Jerusalem. "And the conspiracy became strong; for the people multiplied continually with Absalom" (the latter is a circumstantial clause). These words give a condensed summary of the result of the enterprise.

And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

15:12 Sacrifices - Which he did not in devotion to God; but merely that upon this pretence he might call great numbers of people together.

12. Absalom sent for Ahithophel-who he knew was ready to join the revolt, through disgust and revenge, as Jewish writers assert, at David's conduct towards Bath-sheba, who was his granddaughter.

Giloh-near Hebron.

the conspiracy was strong-The rapid accession of one place after another in all parts of the kingdom to the party of the insurgents, shows that deep and general dissatisfaction existed at this time against the person and government of David. The remnant of Saul's partisans, the unhappy affair of Bath-sheba, the overbearing insolence and crimes of Joab, negligence and obstruction in the administration of justice-these were some of the principal causes that contributed to the success of this widespread insurrection.

15:7-12 See how willing tender parents are to believe the best concerning their children. But how easy and how wicked is it, for children to take advantage of good parents, and to deceive them with the show of religion! The principal men of Jerusalem joined Absalom's feast upon his sacrifice. Pious persons are glad to see others appear religious, and this gives occasion for deceptions. The policy of wicked men, and the subtlety of Satan, are exerted to draw good persons to countenance base designs.