2 Samuel 15:23
in 2 Samuel 15Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
KJV
And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 15
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3431: “The King Passing Over Kidron” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
THE Brook Kidron was an insignificant, but usually a most foul and filthy ditch outside the walls of Jerusalem. If it were not, as some have called it, the open town sewer, yet there are reasons for believing that at least the filth of the Temple ran into it. The scourings of the sacrificial places went by an under-channel into this brook and we have one or two instances in Holy Writ where, when houses were purged and cleansed, the filth was thrown into the Brook Kidron.
This site's exposition
as the king crossed the Kidron Valley
The king crosses the Kidron Valley, and “Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly”. John Wesley and Adam Clarke note that Jesus crosses the same valley at John 18:1, on the night his sufferings begin. From the Kidron the people pass on “toward the way of the wilderness”.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Kidron - Or, Cedron, which was near Jerusalem. The very same brook that Christ passed over when he entered upon his sufferings, John xviii, 1. Wilderness - Which was between Jerusalem and Jericho.
And all the country wept with a loud voice,....
It would move the compassion even of strangers to see a man fallen thus low from such a height, and this by the wickedness of his own son; a piteous case it was. Parents that are abused and ruined by their own children merit the tender sympathy of their friends as much as any of the sons or daughters of affliction.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3431: “The King Passing Over Kidron” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THE Brook Kidron was an insignificant, but usually a most foul and filthy ditch outside the walls of Jerusalem. If it were not, as some have called it, the open town sewer, yet there are reasons for believing that at least the filth of the Temple ran into it. The scourings of the sacrificial places went by an under-channel into this brook and we have one or two instances in Holy Writ where, when houses were purged and cleansed, the filth was thrown into the Brook Kidron. The passing, therefore, over that foul and black brook becomes the symbol of a time of deep sorrow and acute distress. The king, himself, then, passed over the Brook Kidron. The royal road lies over the place of sorrow. The way, even for kings, is by the brook of grief and shame. Let us think over that thought for a while. I. THIS WAS TRUE OF KING DAVID. David was one of the best of kings—certainly in the long list of his successors we meet with none who did such service to his country as did David, the once shepherd boy. It was through him, in his youth, that the country was saved from being enslaved by Philistia, and oftentimes in later years that stout heart and brave arm led in the van against the enemies of the Israel of God. He was the patriot king. If his country became a happy one, it was through his valor that it became so. And yet, good as he was, his subjects disowned and turned against him! And, in fear of them, "the king, himself, also passed over the Brook Kidron." It is an ungrateful world we live in. Those who serve it best will find that at times it gives no rewards, or only gives them grudgingly—and afterwards forgets the good the man has done, because for some moment the tide of popular feeling may set against him.
The brook Kidron - This was an inconsiderable brook, and only furnished with water in winter, and in the rains. See Joh 18:1.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָ֗רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בּוֹכִים֙ | bokhim | [were] weeping | H1058 → | 114 times |
| ק֣וֹל | kol | a voice | H6963 → | 506 times |
| גָּד֔וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| עֹֽבְרִ֑ים | ʾoerim | [were] passing by | H5674 → | 556 times |
| וְהַמֶּ֗לֶךְ | vehamelekh | and the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| עֹבֵר֙ | ʾover | [was] passing | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בְּנַ֣חַל | benachal | in [the] wadi of | H5158 → | 141 times |
| קִדְר֔וֹן | kidron | Kidron | H6939 → | |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| עֹבְרִ֔ים | ʾoerim | [were] passing on | H5674 → | 556 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵי־ | penei- | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| דֶ֖רֶךְ | derekh | [the] road | H1870 → | 707 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמִּדְבָּֽר׃ | hamidbar | the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הָאָ֗רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
בּוֹכִים֙[were] weeping
bokhimH1058 →114 times
ק֣וֹלa voice
kolH6963 →506 times
גָּד֔וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
עֹֽבְרִ֑ים[were] passing by
ʾoerimH5674 →556 times
וְהַמֶּ֗לֶךְand the king
vehamelekhH4428 →2525 times
עֹבֵר֙[was] passing
ʾoverH5674 →556 times
בְּנַ֣חַלin [the] wadi of
benachalH5158 →141 times
קִדְר֔וֹןKidron
kidronH6939 →
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
עֹבְרִ֔ים[were] passing on
ʾoerimH5674 →556 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵי־[the] face of
penei-H6440 →2123 times
דֶ֖רֶךְ[the] road
derekhH1870 →707 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמִּדְבָּֽר׃the wilderness
hamidbarH4057 →270 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 3:1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:3–6
A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
- John 1:6–8
There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John.
- Luke 1:76
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,
- Luke 1:13–17
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
- Isaiah 40:3–6
Through
Luke 1:80And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.
it leads to
- Luke 2:40
And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.
- Mark 1:3–4
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”
- Luke 2:52
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
- Luke 2:40
Through
John 18:1After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
it leads to
- Matthew 26:36
At that time Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
- Matthew 26:36
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3431: “The King Passing Over Kidron” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.