It would be easy to form conjectures concerning the cause, but we can arrive at no certainty. See the note on Genesis xxxvii. 3, where the same words occur. The same addition is found in the Vulgate and in Josephus, and it is possible that this once made a part of the Hebrew text. These were times in which feasts were made, to which the neighbours and relatives of the family were invited.
Fame never lessens but always magnifies a fact.
Report , contrary to the nature of all other things, gains strength by going. This was a very bad man, and here speaks coolly of a most bloody tragedy, which himself had contrived. See 2 Sam. We find that he had a very strong paternal affection for this young man, who appears to have had little to commend him but the beauty of his person. Joab had marked this disposition, and took care to work on it, in order to procure the return of Absalom .