2 Samuel 16:17
in 2 Samuel 16“Is this the loyalty you show your friend?” Absalom replied. “Why did you not go with your friend?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
KJV
And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
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This verse in 2 Samuel 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Professing, however, with great address, to consider it his duty to support the cause which the course of Providence and the national will had seemingly decreed should triumph, and urging his friendship for the father as a ground of confidence in his fidelity to the son, he persuaded Absalom of his sincerity, and was admitted among the councillors of the new king.
This site's exposition
Long live the king
on 2 Samuel 16:16-19
Hushai greets Absalom twice with “Long live the king”, the cry the people raised for Saul at 1 Samuel 10:24. He pledges himself to “the one chosen by the LORD, by the people, and by all the men of Israel”. Absalom hears his own name, while Hushai means David.
This site's exposition
the loyalty you show your friend
John Wesley holds that Absalom speaks only to test Hushai, and that he says your friend as a slight, refusing to call David his father. Matthew Henry says he believes what he wishes true. The pride of his heart deceives him, as Obadiah 3 says of Edom.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Is this - Doth this action answer that profession of friendship which thou hast hitherto made to him? He speaks thus only to try him. And he saith, thy friend, by way of reflection upon David; as one who was a friend to Hushai, and to strangers but not to his own son, whom, by his severity he provoked to this course; and therefore he doth not vouchsafe to call him his father.
), pleasing himself with this thought, that all would be his, since Hushai was. He doubts not of his sincerity, but easily believes what he wishes to be true, that David's best friends are so in love with himself as to take the first opportunity to declare for him, though the pride of his heart deceived him, Obad. Hushai confirmed him in the belief that he was hearty for him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Absalom said to Hushai, is this thy kindness to thy friend?....
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ | ʾavshalom | Absalom | H53 → | 110 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| חוּשַׁ֔י | chushai | Hushai | H2365 → | 14 times |
| זֶ֥ה | zeh | [is] this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| חַסְדְּךָ֖ | chasdekha | loyalty your | H2617 → | 247 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| רֵעֶ֑ךָ | reekha | friend your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| לָ֥מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָלַ֖כְתָּ | halakhta | did you go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| רֵעֶֽךָ׃ | reekha | friend your | H7453 → | 188 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙Absalom
ʾavshalomH53 →110 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
חוּשַׁ֔יHushai
chushaiH2365 →14 times
זֶ֥ה[is] this
zehH2088 →1180 times
חַסְדְּךָ֖loyalty your
chasdekhaH2617 →247 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
רֵעֶ֑ךָfriend your
reekhaH7453 →188 times
לָ֥מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָלַ֖כְתָּdid you go
halakhtaH1980 →1546 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
רֵעֶֽךָ׃friend your
reekhaH7453 →188 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
Proverbs 18:24A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
it leads to
- Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
- John 15:13–15
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
- Proverbs 27:9
Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is counsel to the soul.
- 2 Samuel 1:26
I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.
- 2 Samuel 9:1–13
Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”
- Proverbs 17:17
Through
Proverbs 17:17A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:24
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
- John 15:13–14
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
- Proverbs 18:24
Through
Deuteronomy 32:6Is this how you repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people? Is He not your Father and Creator? Has He not made you and established you?
it leads to
- Isaiah 63:16
Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
- Isaiah 63:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.