From: 2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30-19:3
Death of Absalom
News of Absalom’s Death is Brought to David (Continuation)
[31] And behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, “Good tidings for my
lord the king! For the LORD has delivered you this day from the power of all who
rose up against you.” [32] The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young
man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the
king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man.”
David Mourns for Absalom
[1] It was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” [2]
So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people; for the people
heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.” [3] And the people stole into the
city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle.
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Commentary:
18:9-18. The actions of the protagonists in Absalom’s death are significantly
different. David is completely uninvolved, having stayed in the rearguard; the
branches of the oak tree which accidentally trap Absalom (v. 9) mean that the
hand of God is not far from what happens; Joab, by ignoring the king’s order and
thrusting darts into Absalom (v. 14), acts more as a heartless soldier than as a
loyal lieutenant of David. Finally, poor Absalom, who aspired to great honors and
a mausoleum in his name (v. 18), has to make do with an anonymous pit in the
middle of the forest (v. 17). And this reinforces the conviction that Absalom’s
death was a tragedy for everyone, albeit one merited by his ambition and cruelty.
In any event, it formed part of God’s plan to prevent his succession to the throne
of Israel.
18:19-32. The episode of the “tidings” that are brought to David also reveals the
features of the protagonists. Joab, calculating as ever, delays sending the news
because he knows that it is not at all what David wants to hear (v. 20). Ahima-az,
an impetuous youth, wants to be the first to bring the news that the war is over,
but he is clever enough to avoid the question about Absalom (vv. 28-29). David,
king though he is, is more concerned about the fate of his son. As was the case
with the death of Saul, no one will be able to blame David for Absalom’s death
because he neither sought it nor was in any way pleased to learn of it. In all this
the reader is able to see God at work in salvation history: the Lord withdrew his
favor from Saul, he rejected Amnon, and now there is no hope that Absalom will
be king.
19:1-8. In his lament for his son, David shows his tender fatherly love, his deeply
human feelings (cf. 12; 15-18); whereas Joab is quite pitiless, mouthing threats
to make the king cut short the mourning. David’s sorrow over his son’s death,
despite all that Absalom did, shows his greatness and his fatherly heart—a heart
that is a figure of the heart of Christ, who weeps over the ingratitude and rebel-
liousness of men towards his Father God (cf. Lk 19:41-42).
Despite the calamity of the death of his son, David has to pull himself together
and put his duties as king before his fatherly feelings.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Mark 5:21-43
Jairus’ Daughter is Restored to Life.
The Curing of the Woman With a Hemorrhage
And a great crowd followed Him and thronged about Him. [25] And there was a
woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, [26] and who had suffered much
under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but
rather grew worse. [27] She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up
behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. [28] For she said, “If I touch
even His garments, I shall be made well.” [29] And immediately the hemorrhage
ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. [30] And
Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power had gone forth from Him, immediately
turned about in the crowd, and said, “Who touched My garments?” [31] And
His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing around You, and yet
You say, `Who touched Me?’” [32] And He looked around to see who had done
it. [33] But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and
trembling and fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth. [34] and He
said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be
healed of your disease.”
[35] While He was speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said,
“Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” [36] But ignoring
what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only be-
lieve.” [37] And He allowed no one to follow Him except Peter and James and
John the brother of James. [38] When they came to the house of the ruler of the
synagogue, He saw a tumult, and people weeping and wailing loudly. [39] And
when He had entered, He said to them, “Why do you make a tumult and weep?
The child is not dead but sleeping.” [40] And they laughed at Him. But He put
them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were
with Him, and went in where the child was. [41] Taking her by the hand He said
to her, “Talitha cumi”; which means, “Little girl, I say to you arise.” [42] And im-
mediately the girl got up and walked; for she was twelve years old. And immedi-
ately they were overcome with amazement. [43] And He strictly charged them
that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
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Commentary:
21-43. Both Jairus and the woman with the flow of blood give us an example of
faith in Christ’s omnipotence, for only a miracle can cure Jairus’ daughter, who
is on her death-bed, and heal this lady, who has done everything humanly pos-
sible to get better. Similarly, the Christian should always expect God to help
him overcome the obstacles in the way of his sanctification. Normally, God’s
help comes to us in an unspectacular way, but we should not doubt that, if it is
necessary for our salvation, God will again work miracles. However, we should
bear in mind that what the Lord expects of us is that we should every day fulfill
His will.
22. At the head of each synagogue was the archisynagogist, whose function it
was to organize the meetings of the synagogue on Sabbaths and holy days, to
lead the prayer and hymns and to indicate who should explain the Sacred Scrip-
ture. He was assisted in his task by a council and also had an aide who looked
after the material side of things.
25. This woman suffered from an illness which implied legal impurity (Leviticus
14:25ff). Medical attention had failed to cure her; on the contrary, as the Gos-
pel puts it so realistically, she was worse than ever. In addition to her physical
suffering—which had gone on for twelve years—she suffered the shame of feeling
unclean according to the Law. The Jews not only regarded a woman in this po-
sition as being impure: everything she touched became unclean as well. There-
fore, in order not to be noticed by the people, the woman came up to Jesus from
behind and, out of delicacy, touched only His garment. Her faith is enriched by
her expression of humility: she is conscious of being unworthy to touch our Lord.
“She touched the hem of His garment, she approached Him in a spirit of faith,
she believed, and she realized that she was cured [...]. So we too, if we wish to
be saved, should reach out in faith to touch the garment of Christ” (St. Ambrose,
“Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam”, VI, 56 and 58).
30. In all that crowd pressing around Him only this woman actually touched Je-
sus — and she touched Him not only with her hand but with the faith she bore in
her heart. St. Augustine comments: “She touches Him, the people crowd Him.
Is her touching not a sign of her belief?” (”In Ioann. Evang.”, 26, 3). We need
contact with Jesus. We have been given no other means under Heaven by which
to be saved (cf. Acts 4:12). When we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, we
obtain this physical contact through the sacramental species. We too need to
enliven our faith if these encounters with our Lord are to redound to our salvation
(cf. Matthew 13:58).
37. Jesus did not want more than these three Apostles to be present: three was
the number of witnesses laid down by the Law (Deuteronomy 19:15). “For Jesus,
being humble, never acted in an ostentatious way (Theophilactus, “Enarratio In
Evangelium Marci, in loc.”). Besides these were the three disciples closest to
Jesus: later, only they will be with Him at the Transfiguration (cf. 9:2) and at His
agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (cf. 14:33).
39. Jesus’ words are in contrast with those of the ruler’s servants; they say:
“Your daughter is dead”; whereas He says: “She is not dead but sleeping”. “To
men’s eyes she was dead, she could not be awoken; in God’s eyes she was
sleeping, for her soul was alive and was subject to God’s power, and her body
was resting, awaiting the Resurrection. Hence the custom which arose among
Christians of referring to the dead, whom we know will rise again, as those who
are asleep” (St. Bede, “In Marci Evangelium Expositio, in loc.”). What Jesus
says shows us that, for God, death is only a kind of sleep, for He can awaken
anyone from the dead whenever He wishes. The same happens with the death
and resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus says: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,
but I go to awaken him out of sleep.” And, when the disciples think that it is or-
dinary sleep He is referring to, our Lord tells them plainly: “Lazarus is dead” (cf.
John 11:11ff).
40-42. Like all the Gospel miracles the raising of the daughter of Jairus demon-
strates Christ’s divinity. Only God can work miracles; sometimes He does them
in a direct way, sometimes by using created things as a medium. The exclusive-
ly divine character of miracles—especially the miracle of raising the dead — is no-
ticed in the Old Testament: “The Lord wills and brings to life; He brings down to
Sheol and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6), because He has “power over life and death”
(Wisdom 16:13). And also in the Old Testament God uses men to raise the
dead to life: the prophet Elijah revives the son of the widow of Sarepta by “crying
to the Lord” (cf. 1 Kings 17:21), and Elisha prevails on Him to raise the son of
the Shunammite (2 Kings 4:33).
In the same way, in the New Testament the Apostles do not act by their own po-
wer but by that of Jesus to whom they first offer fervent prayer: Peter restores to
life a Christian woman of Joppa named Tabitha (Acts 9:36ff); and Paul, in Troas,
brings Eutychus back to life after he falls from a high window (Acts 20:7ff). Je-
sus does not refer to any superior power; His authority is sovereign: all He has
to do is give the order and the daughter of Jairus is brought back to life; this
shows that He is God.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.