And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
Read Chapter 17
John Chrysostom
AD 407
There is nothing so foreign to a Christian soul as haughtiness. Haughtiness, I say, not boldness nor courage, for these are agreeable. But these are one thing, and that is another; so too humility is one thing, and ignobility, flattery and adulation another. I will now, if you wish, give you examples of all these qualities. For these things which are contraries, seem in some way to be placed close together, as the tares are to the wheat and the thorns to the rose. But while babes might easily be deceived, those who are mature in truth and are skilled in spiritual husbandry know how to separate what is really good from the bad. Let me then lay before you examples of these qualities from the Scriptures. What is flattery and ignobility and adulation? Ziba flattered David out of season and falsely slandered his master. Much more did Ahitophel flatter Absalom. But David was not like this but was humble. For the deceitful are flatterers, as when they say, “O king, live forever.” Again, what flatterers the magicians are. - "Homilies on Philippians 5"
