2 Samuel 20:3

And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
David	דָוִ֣ד da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
came	וַיָּבֹ֨א vai.ya.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
house	בֵּיתוֹ֮ bei.To	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Jerusalem	יְרֽוּשָׁלִַם֒ ye.ru.sha.Lim	H3389	Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
king	הַמֶּ֡לֶךְ ha.Me.lekh	H4428	a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
took	וַיִּקַּ֣ח vai.yi.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
ten	עֶֽשֶׂר 'e.ser-	H6235	ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) · noun, common masculine singular construct
women	נָשִׁ֣ים na.Shim	H802	a woman · noun, common masculine plural absolute
concubines	פִּלַגְשִׁ֡ים pi.lag.Shim	H6370	a concubine · noun, common masculine plural absolute
left	יָנַח yânach	H3240	to deposit
keep	לִשְׁמֹ֨ר lish.Mor	H8104	properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
house	הַבַּ֜יִת ha.Ba.yit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
put	וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֤ם vai.yi.te.Nem	H5414	to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
ward	מִשְׁמֶ֙רֶת֙ mish.Me.ret	H4931	watch · noun, common feminine singular absolute
fed	וַֽיְכַלְכְּלֵ֔ם vay.khal.ke.Lem	H3557	properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
in	בָ֑א Va'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
up	צְרֻר֛וֹת tze.ru.Rot	H6887	to cramp · verb, qal passive participle, feminine plural absolute
day	י֥וֹם Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular construct
death	מֻתָ֖ן mu.Tan	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine plural
living	חַיּֽוּת chai.Yut	H2424	life · noun, common feminine singular absolute
widowhood	אַלְמְנ֥וּת 'al.me.Nut	H491	concrete · noun, common feminine singular construct

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

2 Samuel 16:21-22 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father’s concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that t…
2 Samuel 15:16 And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.
Genesis 40:3 And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 20:1-3

David, in the midst of his triumphs, has here the affliction to see his kingdom disturbed and his family disgraced. I. His subjects revolting from him at the instigation of a man of Belial, whom they followed when they forsook the man after God's own heart. Observe, 1. That this happened immediately upon the crushing of Absalom's rebellion. We must not think it strange, while we are in this world, if the end of one trouble be the beginning of another: deep sometimes calls unto deep. 2. That the people were now just returning to their allegiance, when, of a sudden, they flew off from it. When a reconciliation is newly made, it ought to be handled with great tenderness and caution, lest the pe…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 20:3

the king took the ten women his concubines--Jewish writers say that the widowed queens of Hebrew monarchs were not allowed to marry again but were obliged to pass the rest of their lives in strict seclusion. David treated his concubines in the same manner after the outrage committed on them by Absalom. They were not divorced, for they were guiltless; but they were no longer publicly recognized as his wives; nor was their confinement to a sequestered life a very heavy doom, in a region where women have never been accustomed to go much abroad.

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 20:3

The ten women - He could not well divorce them; he could not punish them, as they were not in the transgression; he could no more be familiar with them, because they had been defiled by his son; and to have married them to other men might have been dangerous to the state: therefore he shut them up and fed them - made them quite comfortable, and they continued as widows to their death.

John Gill on 2 Samuel 20:3

And David came to his house at Jerusalem,.... His palace there, which was in that part of the city called the fort of Zion, and city of David: and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house; when he fled from Jerusalem because of Absalom, 2 Samuel 15:16, and put them in ward; partly as a punishment for easily yielding to the lust of Absalom, and partly that they might not be seen, which would bring to remembrance his sin: and fed them; he did not put them to death, nor put them away, but kept them thus confined, and made a proper provision for them, not suffering them to marry any other, and be maintained by them: but went not in unto them: into their…

Dictionary and topics

David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Joab — Jehovah is his father. (1.) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, and “captain of the host” during the whole of David’s reign (2 Sam. 2:13; 10:7; 11:1; 1 Kings 11:15). His father’s name…
Sheba — An oath, seven. (1.) Heb. shebha, the son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7), whose descendants settled with those of Dedan on the Persian Gulf. (2.) Heb. id. A son of Joktan (Gen. 10:28), probably the founder of…
Abishai · Overthrows Sheba — Overthrows Sheba
Jerusalem · Made the royal city — Made the royal city

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 20:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 20:1-3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 20:3

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 20:3

John Gill on 2 Samuel 20:3

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 20:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 20:1-3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 20:3

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 20:3

John Gill on 2 Samuel 20:3

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 20:1-22

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 20:3

Rashi on 2 Samuel 20:1