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2 Samuel 17:21

in 2 Samuel 17

After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed up out of the well and went to inform King David, saying, “Get up and cross over the river at once, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said unto David, Arise ye, and pass quickly over the water; for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

KJV

And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 17

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

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

cross over the river at once

Ahimaaz and Jonathan urge King David to cross at once. Their warning names the advice of Ahithophel, the one plan that could still take David that night. Matthew Henry moves from this report to verse 23, where Ahithophel sees his advice set aside, goes home and hangs himself.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And it came to pass after they were departed,....

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וַיְהִ֣י׀and it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֣יafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • לֶכְתָּ֗םhad gone they

    lekhtamH1980 →1546 times

  • וַֽיַּעֲלוּ֙and they came up

    vaiyaaluH5927 →890 times

  • מֵֽהַבְּאֵ֔רfrom the well

    mehabeerH875 →38 times

  • וַיֵּ֣לְכ֔וּand they went

    vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • וַיַּגִּ֖דוּand they told

    vaiyagiduH5046 →370 times

  • לַמֶּ֣לֶךְto the king

    lamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • דָּוִ֑דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • וַיֹּאמְר֣וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • דָּוִ֗דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • ק֣וּמוּarise

    kumuH6965 →628 times

  • וְעִבְר֤וּand pass over

    veivruH5674 →556 times

  • מְהֵרָה֙quickly

    meherahH4120 →20 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמַּ֔יִםthe water

    hamayimH4325 →581 times

  • כִּי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • כָ֛כָהthus

    khakhahH3602 →

  • יָעַ֥ץhe has counseled

    yaatzH3289 →79 times

  • עֲלֵיכֶ֖םon you

    ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times

  • אֲחִיתֹֽפֶל׃Ahithophel

    ʾachitofelH302 →20 times

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

Related verses

2 in all, six open

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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 17 →