tell them the reason of this his
conduct; he then called them unskillful people, and instructed them
how he had hopes of the recovery of the child while it was alive, and
accordingly did all that was proper for him to do, as thinking by such
means to render God propitious to him; but that when the child was
dead, there was no longer any occasion for grief, which was then to no
purpose. When he had said this, they commended the king's wisdom
and understanding. He then went in unto Bathsheba his wife, and she
conceived and bare a son; and by the command of Nathan the prophet
called his name Solomon.

5. But Joab sorely distressed the Ammonites in the siege, by cutting
off their waters, and depriving them of other means of subsistence, till
they were in the greatest want of meat and drink, for they depended only
on one small well of water, and this they durst not drink of too freely,
lest the fountain should entirely fail them. So he wrote to the king,
and informed him thereof; and persuaded him to come himself to take the
city, that he might have the honor of the victory. Upon this letter of
Joab's, the king accepted of his good-will and fidelity, and took with
him his army, and came to the destruction of Rabbah; and when he had
taken it by force, he gave it to his soldiers to plunder it; but he
himself took the king of the Ammonites' crown, whose weight was a
talent of gold; [13] and it had in its middle a precious stone called
a sardonyx; which crown David ever after wore on his own head. He also
found many other vessels in the city, and those both splendid and
of great price; but as for the men, he tormented them, [14] and then
destroyed them; and when he had taken the other cities of the Ammonites
by force, he treated them after the same manner.

CHAPTER 8. How Absalom Murdered Amnon, Who Had Forced His Own Sister;
And How He Was Banished And Afterwards Recalled By David.

1. When the king was returned to Jerusalem, a sad misfortune befell
his house, on the occasion following: He had a daughter, who was yet
a virgin, and very handsome, insomuch that she surpassed all the most
beautiful women; her name was Tamar; she had the same mother with
Absalom. Now Amnon, David's eldest son, fell in love with her, and being
not able to obtain his desires, on account of her virginity, and the
custody she was under, was so much out of order, nay, his grief so eat
up his body, that he grew lean, and his color was changed.