Diplomatic Insincerity
Charles Deal. 2 Samuel 15:7-8 And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said to the king, I pray you, let me go and pay my vow… Of royal dissemblers like Absalom history records numerous parallels, notably Charles II., who, in his dealings with the Scots, solely to win them over to his cause, took the Covenant with all the solemnity of a pious Covenant, also Napoleon Bonaparte, who, when in Egypt seeking to reconcile the people to his rule, announced: "We Frenchmen are true Mussulmans. Have not we destroyed the Pope, who called upon Europe to make war upon the Mussulmans." After the capture of Cairo this adept at diplomatic insincerity was to be seen " seated in the great mosque at the feast of the prophets, sitting cross-legged as he repeated the words of the Koran, and edified the sacred college by his piety." (Charles Deal.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron. WEB: It happened at the end of forty years, that Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron.