es of the
history shows it could not be more than four years after it, as here
in Josephus; whose number is directly confirmed by that copy of the
Septuagint version whence the Armenian translation was made, which gives
us the small number of four years.

[17] This reflection of Josephus's, that God brought to nought the
dangerous counsel of Ahithophel, and directly infatuated wicked Absalom
to reject it, [which infatuation is what the Scripture styles the
judicial hardening the hearts and blinding the eyes of men, who, by
their former voluntary wickedness, have justly deserved to be destroyed,
and are thereby brought to destruction,] is a very just one, and in him
not unfrequent. Nor does Josephus ever puzzle himself, or perplex
his readers, with subtle hypotheses as to the manner of such judicial
infatuations by God, while the justice of them is generally so obvious.
That peculiar manner of the Divine operations, or permissions, or the
means God makes use of in such cases, is often impenetrable by us.
"Secret things belong to the Lord our God; but those things that are
revealed belong to us, and to our children for ever, that we may do all
the words of this law," Deuteronomy 29:29. Nor have all the subtleties
of the moderns, as far as I see, given any considerable light in this,
and many other the like points of difficulty relating either to Divine
or human operations.--See the notes on Antiq. B. V ch. 1. sect. 2; and
Antiq. B. IX. ch. 4. sect. 3.

[18] Those that take a view of my description of the gates of the
temple, will not be surprised at this account of David's throne, both
here and 2 Samuel 18:21, that it was between two gates or portals. Gates
being in cities, as well as at the temple, large open places, with a
portal at the entrance, and another at the exit, between which judicial
causes were heard, and public consultations taken, as is well known
from several places of Scripture, 2 Chronicles 31:2; Psalm 9:14; 137:5;
Proverbs 1:21; 8:3, 31; 31:23, and often elsewhere.

[19] Since David was now in Mahanairn, and in the open place of that
city gate, which seems still to have been built the highest of any part
of the wall, and since our other copies say he went up to the chamber
over the gate, 2 Samuel 18:33, I think we ought to correct our present
reading in Josephus, and for city, should read gate, i.e. instead of
the highest part of the city, should say the highest part of the gate.
Accordingly we find