Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 15:13-23
Here is, I. The notice brought to David of Absalom's rebellion, Sa2 15:13. The matter was bad enough, and yet it seems to have been made worse to him (as such things commonly are) than really it was; for he was told that the hearts of the men of Israel (that is, the generality of them, at least the leading men) were after Absalom. But David was the more apt to believe it because now he could call to mind the arts that Absalom had used to inveigle them, and perhaps reflected upon it with regret that he had not done more to counterwork him, and secure his own interest, which he had been too confident of. Note, It is the wisdom of princes to make sure of their subjects; for, if they have them,…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 15:18
all the Gittites, six hundred men--These were a body of foreign guards, natives of Gath, whom David, when in the country of the Philistines, had enlisted in his service, and kept around his person. Addressing their commander, Ittai, he made a searching trial of their fidelity in bidding them (Sa2 15:19) abide with the new king.
Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 15:20
Mercy and truth be with thee - May God ever show thee mercy, as thou showest it to me, and his truth ever preserve thee from error and delusion!
John Gill on 2 Samuel 15:21
And Ittai answered the king, and said,.... With an oath, as follows:
as the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth; which he took to confirm what he after says, and to put an end to the debate between them:
surely, in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be; signifying that he would attend him wherever he went, hazard his life in his cause, and live and die with him.
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 15:21
But Ittai replied with a solemn oath, "Assuredly at the place where my lord the king shall be (stay), whether for death or life, there will thy servant be." אם כּי means "only," as in Gen 40:14, Job 42:8; here, in a declaration on oath, it is equivalent to assuredly (vid., Ewald, 356, b.). The Chethib is therefore correct, and the erasure of אם in the Keri is a bad emendation. The כּי in the apodosis is either an emphatic declaration, yea, or like ὅτι merely introduces a distinct assertion.
