2 Kings 9:17 BSB — MannaFest

2 Kings 9:17

Now the watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, and he called out, “I see a company of troops!” “Choose a rider,” Joram commanded. “Send him out to meet them and ask, ‘Have you come in peace?’”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?

KJV

And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?

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Commentary

2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

A watchman on the tower - These watchmen, fixed on elevated places and generally within hearing of each other, served as a kind of telegraphs, to communicate intelligence through the whole country. But, in some cases, it appears that the intelligence was conveyed by a horseman to the next stage, as in the case before us. At this time, when the armies were at Ramoth-gilead, they were, no doubt, doubly watchful to observe the state of the country, and to notice every movement. See on 2Sa 13:34 (note).

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

A report was made to Joram in his palace below. A messenger on horseback was quickly despatched down into the plain to meet the ambiguous host and to question the object of their approach. "Is it peace?" We may safely assume that this messenger would meet Jehu at the distance of three miles or more.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

22 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וְהַצֹּפֶה֩	ve.ha.tzo.Peh	and the watchman	H6822 →
עֹמֵ֨ד	'o.Med	[was] standing	H5975 →
עַֽל־	'al-	on	H5921 →
הַמִּגְדָּ֜ל	ha.mig.Dal	the tower	H4026 →
בְּיִזְרְעֶ֗אל	be.yiz.re.'El	in Jezreel	H3157 →
וַיַּ֞רְא	vai.Yar'	and he saw	H7200 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
שִׁפְעַ֤ת	shif.'At	[the] crowd of	H8229 →
יֵהוּא֙	ye.Hu'	Jehu	H3058 →
בְּבֹא֔וֹ	be.vo.'O	when came he	H935 →
וַיֹּ֕אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
שִׁפְעַ֖ת	shif.'At	a crowd	H8229 →
אֲנִ֣י	'a.Ni	I	H589 →
רֹאֶ֑ה	ro.'Eh	[am] seeing	H7200 →
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
יְהוֹרָ֗ם	ye.ho.Ram	Jehoram	H3088 →
קַ֥ח	kach	take	H3947 →
רַכָּ֛ב	ra.Kav	a horseman	H7395 →
וּֽשְׁלַ֥ח	u.she.Lach	and send [him]	H7971 →
לִקְרָאתָ֖ם	lik.ra.Tam	to meet them	H7122 →
וְיֹאמַ֥ר	ve.yo.Mar	and he may say	H559 →
הֲשָׁלֽוֹם׃	ha.sha.Lom	¿ peace	H7965 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Isaiah 56:10
Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
leads to
- Isaiah 29:10
  For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
- Ezekiel 33:6
  But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away…
- Philippians 3:2
  Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
- Isaiah 58:1
  “Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Matthew 15:14
  Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Through
1 Samuel 16:4
So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”
leads to
- 1 Kings 2:13
  Now Adonijah son of Haggith went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she asked, “Do you come in peace?” “Yes, in peace,” he replied.
- 1 Samuel 21:1
  Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
- Luke 5:8
  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”