Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 18:19–end
Absalom's business is done; and we are now told,
I. How David was informed of it. He staid behind at the city of Mahanaim, some miles from the wood where the battle was, and in the utmost border of the land. Absalom's scattered forces all made homeward toward Jordan, which was the contrary way from Mahanaim, so that his watchmen could not perceive how the battle went, till an express came on purpose to bring advice of the issue, which the king sat in the gate expecting to hear, Sa2 18:24.
1. Cushi was the man Joab ordered to carry the tidings (Sa2 18:21), an Ethiopian, so his name signifies, and some think that he was so by birth, a black that waited on Joab, probably one of the ten that had…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 18:24
David sat between the two gates--that is, in the tower-house on the wall that overhung the gate of Mahanaim. Near it was a watchtower, on which a sentinel was posted, as in times of war, to notify every occurrence. The delicacy of Ahimaaz' communication was made up by the unmistakable plainness of Cushi's. The death of Absalom was a heavy trial, and it is impossible not to sympathize with the outburst of feeling by which David showed that all thoughts of the victory he had won as a king were completely sunk in the painful loss he had sustained as a father. The extraordinary ardor and strength of his affection for this worthless son break out in the redundancy and vehemence of his mournful ej…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on 2 Samuel 18:25
If he be alone, there is tidings - That is, good tidings. For if the battle had been lost men would have been running in different directions through the country.
John Gill on 2 Samuel 18:25
And the watchman cried and told the king,.... Called with a loud voice from the roof of the watchtower to the king, sitting between the gates, and informed him what he saw:
and the king said, if he be alone there is tidings in his mouth; for if the army was routed and fled, and were pursued, there would be more in company, or several running one after another; but being but one, it was highly improbable that he was sent express:
and he came apace, and drew near; which was another sign of his being a messenger, the haste he made towards the city.
