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2 Samuel 17:19

in 2 Samuel 17

Then the man’s wife took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well, scattering grain over it so nobody would know a thing.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and strewed bruised grain thereon; and nothing was known.

KJV

And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 17

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Cassian

CONFERENCE 17.19.6-7 · Written before 435.

And what shall we say about the deed of the woman who received those who had been sent to King David by the aforementioned Hushai and who hid them in a well, spreading a cover over the mouth of it and making believe that she was drying barley? "They went on," she said, "after having drunk a little water," and by this trick she saved them from the hands of their pursuers. Tell me, then, I ask you, what you would have done if a similar situation had arisen for you who now live under the gospel.

This site's exposition

they dared not be seen entering the city

on 2 Samuel 17:17-21

Jonathan and Ahimaaz wait at En-rogel, “for they dared not be seen entering the city”. A young man sees them, and they climb down into a well at a house in Bahurim. The man's wife spreads a covering over it, “scattering grain over it so nobody would know a thing”.

This site's exposition

scattering grain over it

The man's wife hid the well under a covering scattered with grain. Albert Barnes notes the Hebrew says the covering, which he suggests was the awning, and the grain was barley set out as if to dry. The scene recalls Rahab hiding the spies at Joshua 2:6.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A covering - Hebrew “the covering,” perhaps “the hanging” or “awning” at the door of the house, as the word seems to mean when spoken of the tabernacle. Ground corn - Or “peeled barley,” which she spread out as if for the purpose of drying it in the sun.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַתִּקַּ֣חand she took

    vatikachH3947 →966 times

  • הָאִשָּׁ֗הthe woman

    haishahH802 →781 times

  • וַתִּפְרֹ֤שׂand she spread out

    vatifrosH6566 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמָּסָךְ֙the covering

    hamasokhH4539 →

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • פְּנֵ֣י[the] face of

    peneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַבְּאֵ֔רthe well

    habeerH875 →38 times

  • וַתִּשְׁטַ֥חand she spread

    vatishtachH7849 →

  • עָלָ֖יוon it

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • הָֽרִפ֑וֹתthe grain[s]

    harifotH7383 →

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • נוֹדַ֖עit was known

    noda'H3045 →945 times

  • דָּבָֽר׃anything

    davarH1697 →1440 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

3 stops

Each 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

    Exodus 1:19

    The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 17:19–20

      Then the man’s wife took a covering and spread it over the mouth of the well, scattering grain over it so nobody would know a thing.

    • Joshua 2:4–24

      But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

    • 1 Samuel 21:2

      “The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission or charge. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 17 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Cassian, CONFERENCE 17.19.6-7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 17 →