the absence of any internal disturbance or court intrigue, to counteract which might make too serious a drain upon his energy.  David had survived his last victory sufficiently long to witness around him the evolution of plots, and the multiplication of the usual miseries which sadden, in the East, the last years of a long reign.  It was a matter of custom as well as policy that an exaltation in the position of a ruler should be accompanied by a proportional increase in the number of his retinue and his wives.  David was no exception to this custom:  to the two wives, Abigail and Ahinoam, which he had while he was in exile at Ziklag, he now added Maacah the Aramaean, daughter of the King of Geshur, Haggith, Abital, Bglah, and several others.* During the siege of Babbath-Ammon he also committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and, placing her husband in the forefront of the battle, brought about his death.  Rebuked by the prophet Nathan for this crime, he expressed his penitence, but he continued at the same time to keep Bathsheba, by whom he had several children.** There was considerable rivalry among the progeny of these different unions, as the right of succession would appear not to have been definitely settled.  Of the family of Saul, moreover, there were still several members in existence—­the son which he had by Eizpah, the children of his daughter Merab, Merib-baal, the lame offspring of Jonathan,*** and Shimei****—­all of whom had partisans among the tribes, and whose pretensions might be pressed unexpectedly at a critical moment.

* Ahinoam is mentioned in the following passages:  1 Sam. xxv. 43, xxvii. 3, xxx. 5; 2 Sam. ii. 2, iii. 2; cf. also 1 Chron. iii. 1; Maacah in 2 Sam. iii. 3; 1 Chron. iii. 2; Haggith in 2 Sam. iii. 4; 1 Kings i. 5, 11, ii. 13; 1 Chron. iii. 2; Abital in 2 Sam. iii. 4; 1 Chron. iii. 3; Eglah in 2 Sam. iii. 5; 1 Chron. iii. 3.  For the concubines, see 2 Sam. v. 13, xv. 15, xvi. 21, 22; 1 Chron. iii. 9, xiv. 3.

     ** 2 Sam. xi., xii. 7-25.

     *** 2 Sam. ix., xvi. 1-4, xix. 25-30, where the name is
     changed into Mephibosheth; the original name is given in 1
     Chron. viii. 34.

     **** Sam. xvi. 5-14, xix. 16-23; 1 Kings ii. 8, 9, 36-46.

The eldest son of Ahinoam, Amnon, whose priority in age seemed likely to secure for him the crown, had fallen in love with one of his half-sisters named Tamar, the daughter of Maacah, and, instead of demanding her in marriage, procured her attendance on him by a feigned illness, and forced her to accede to his desires.  His love was thereupon converted immediately into hate, and, instead of marrying her, he had her expelled from his house by his servants.  With rent garments and ashes on her head, she fled to her full-brother Absalom.  David was very wroth, but he loved his firstborn, and could not permit himself to punish him.  Absalom kept his anger to himself, but when two years had elapsed he invited Amnon to a banquet, killed him, and fled to his grandfather Talmai, King of Geshur.*