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2 Samuel 17:3

in 2 Samuel 17

and bring all the people back to you as a bride returning to her husband. You seek the life of only one man; then all the people will be at peace.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

KJV

And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 17

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
The man whom thou seekest - namely, David. Ahithophel means to say: “If I can only smite David, there will be no civil war, all the people will peaceably submit.”

This site's exposition

Let me choose twelve thousand men

on 2 Samuel 17:1-3

Ahithophel asks for twelve thousand men and a strike that night. He means to “strike down only the king” and “bring all the people back to you as a bride returning to her husband”. Matthew Henry sets the plan beside the counsel of Caiaphas, one man dying for the nation.

This site's exposition

as a bride returning

Ahithophel pictures all the people coming back to Absalom as a bride returning to her husband. Adam Clarke reads the older wording to mean that David is the one man whose life holds the whole, and his death ends all resistance. Albert Barnes hears a promise of peace.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON PHILIPPIANS 5 · Written before 407.

proposed

There is nothing so foreign to a Christian soul as haughtiness. Haughtiness, I say, not boldness nor courage, for these are congenial. But these are one thing, and that another; so too humility is one thing, and meanness, flattery, and adulation another. I will now, if you wish, give you examples of all these qualities. For these things which are contraries, seem in some way to be placed near together, as the tares to the wheat, and the thorns to the rose. But while babes might easily be deceived, they who are men in truth, and are skilled in spiritual husbandry, know how to separate what is really good from the bad. Let me then lay before you examples of these qualities from the Scriptures. What is flattery, and meanness, and adulation? Ziba flattered David out of season, and falsely slandered his master. Much more did Ahitophel flatter Absalom. But David was not so, but he was humble. For the deceitful are flatterers, as when they say, "O king, live for ever." Again, what flatterers the magicians are.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Let that one man die for the people, John xi. Kill the heir, and the inheritance shall be ours, Matt. xxi. But the counsel of them both was turned into foolishness.
And I will bring back all the people unto thee,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

But his dexterity was chiefly displayed in that part of his counsel which recommended a general levy throughout the country; and that Absalom should take command of it in person--thereby flattering at once the pride and ambition of the usurper. The bait was caught by the vainglorious and wicked prince.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The man whom thou seekest is as if all returned - Only secure David, and all Israel will be on thy side. He is the soul of the whole; destroy him, and all the rest will submit.

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.

  • וְאָשִׁ֥יבָהand I will bring back

    veashivahH7725 →1056 times

  • כָל־all

    khol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֵלֶ֑יךָto you

    ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times

  • כְּשׁ֣וּבas returns

    keshuvH7725 →1056 times

  • הַכֹּ֔ל<the> everything

    hakolH3605 →5413 times

  • הָאִישׁ֙the man

    haishH376 →1663 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אַתָּ֣הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • מְבַקֵּ֔שׁ[are] seeking

    mevakeshH1245 →225 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • יִהְיֶ֥הit will be

    yihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • שָׁלֽוֹם׃peace

    shalomH7965 →236 times

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

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Judges 4:22When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple.4 works1 Thessalonians 5:3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.3 worksIsaiah 57:21“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”2 works2 Samuel 3:21Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once, and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.2 worksIsaiah 48:22“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”2 works

The walk

8 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

    1 Thessalonians 5:3

    While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

    it leads to

    • Luke 21:34–35

      But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

    • Matthew 24:37–39

      As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

    • Luke 17:26–30

      Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:

    • Revelation 18:7–8

      As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow…

  • Through

    Isaiah 48:22

    “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 57:21

      “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

    • Job 15:20–24

      A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

    • Luke 19:42

      and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.

  • Through

    Isaiah 57:21

    “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 48:22

      “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON PHILIPPIANS 5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 17 →