2 Samuel 17:20

And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Absalom’s	אַבְשָׁל֨וֹם 'av.sha.Lom	H53	Abshalom · proper noun, a man's name
servants	עַבְדֵי֩ 'av.Dei	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct
came	וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ vai.ya.Vo.'u	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
woman	הָאִשָּׁ֜ה ha.'i.Shah	H802	a woman · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
house	הַבַּ֗יְתָה ha.Bay.tah	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute + directional suffix
said	וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ vai.yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Ahimaaz	אֲחִימַ֙עַץ֙ 'a.chi.Ma.'atz	H290	Achimaats · proper noun, a man's name
Jonathan	וִיה֣וֹנָתָ֔ן vi.Ho.na.Tan	H3083	Jehonathan · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
woman	הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה ha.'i.Shah	H802	a woman · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
said	וַתֹּ֤אמֶר va.To.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
over	עָבְר֖וּ 'a.ve.Ru	H5674	to cross over · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
brook	מִיכַ֣ל mi.Khal	H4323	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
water	הַמָּ֑יִם ha.Ma.yim	H4325	water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
sought	וַיְבַקְשׁוּ֙ vay.vak.Shu	H1245	to search out (by any method · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
find	מָצָ֔אוּ ma.Tza.'u	H4672	properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
returned	וַיָּשֻׁ֖בוּ vai.ya.Shu.vu	H7725	to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Jerusalem	יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם ye.ru.sha.Lim	H3389	Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 1:19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the m…
Joshua 2:3-5 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be…
Joshua 2:22-23 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throug…
1 Samuel 19:12-17 So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.
1 Samuel 21:2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the bus…
1 Samuel 27:11-12 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so wil…
2 Samuel 15:34 But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father’s servant hitherto, so will I…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 17:15-21

We must now leave David's enemies pleasing themselves with the thoughts of a sure victory by following Hushai's counsel, and sending a summons, no doubt, to all the tribes of Israel, to come to the general rendezvous at a place appointed, pursuant to that counsel; and we next find David's friends consulting how to get him notice of all this, that he might steer his course accordingly. Hushai tells the priests what had passed in council, Sa2 17:15. But, it should seem, he was not sure but that yet Ahithophel's counsel might be followed, and was therefore jealous lest, if he made not the best of his way, the king would be swallowed up, and all the people that were with him, Sa2 17:16. Perhaps,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 17:18

and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court--The court was that of the house, and the well an empty cistern. All the houses of the better class are furnished with such reservoirs. Nothing could more easily happen than that one of these wells, in consequence of a deficiency of water, should become dry and it would then answer as a place of retreat, such as David's friends found in the man's house at Bahurim. The spreading of a covering over the well's mouth for the drying of corn is a common practice.

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 17:17

En-rogel - The fullers' well; the place where they were accustomed to tread the clothes with their feet; hence the name עין ein, a well, and רגל regel, the foot, because of the treading above mentioned. And a wench went and told them - The word wench occurs nowhere else in the Holy Scriptures: and, indeed, has no business here; as the Hebrew word שפחה shiphchah, should have been translated girl, maid, maid-servant. The word either comes from the Anglo-Saxon, a maid, or the Belgic wunch, desire, a thing wished for: multum enim ut plurimum Puellae a Juvenibus desiderantur, seu appetuntur. So Minsheu. Junius seems more willing to derive it from wince, to frisk, to be skittish, etc., for reasons…

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Dictionary and topics

Ahimaaz — Brother of anger = irascible. (1.) The father Ahinoam, the wife of Saul (1 Sam. 14:50). (2.) The son and successor of Zadok in the office of high priest (1 Chr. 6:8, 53). On the occasion of the…
Ahithophel — Brother of insipidity or impiety, a man greatly renowned for his sagacity among the Jews. At the time of Absalom’s revolt he deserted David (Ps. 41:9; 55:12-14) and espoused the cause of Absalom (2…
Jonathan — Whom Jehovah gave, the name of fifteen or more persons that are mentioned in Scripture. The chief of these are, (1.) A Levite descended from Gershom (Judg. 18:30). His history is recorded in 17:7-13…
Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or…
Abiathar · information concerning the counsel of Ahithophel — information concerning the counsel of Ahithophel
Ahithophel · Joins Absalom — Joins Absalom
Friendship · .David and Hushai — .David and Hushai
Jonathan · .Acts as a spy for David — .Acts as a spy for David
Water · Collected in: Brooks — Collected in: Brooks
Zadok · Absalom’ s usurpation; returns with the ark of the covenant at David’ s command — Absalom’ s usurpation; returns with the ark of the covenant at David’ s command

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Samuel 17:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 17:15-21

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 17:18

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 17:17

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 17:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 17:15-21

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 17:18

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 17:17

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 2 Samuel 17:20

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 17:20

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 17:18-20

Rashi on 2 Samuel 17:20