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2 Samuel 18:25

in 2 Samuel 18

So he called out and told the king. “If he is alone,” the king replied, “he bears good news.” As the first runner drew near,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.

KJV

And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 18

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

If he be alone, there is tidings - That is, good tidings. For if the battle had been lost men would have been running in different directions through the country.

This site's exposition

David was sitting between the two gates

on 2 Samuel 18:24-27

David sits between the two gates while a watchman sees a man running alone. The king takes a lone runner as good news, since a rout would scatter men. The watchman thinks the first man runs “like Ahimaaz son of Zadok”, and David answers, “This is a good man”.

This site's exposition

he bears good news

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place David in the tower house over the gate of Mahanaim, with a sentinel posted on the watchtower beside it. The watchman calls down each sighting. The king's hopeful reading of each one prepares for the blow that falls at verse 33.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): If he be alone, there are tidings in his mouth; for if they had been beaten, and were flying back from the enemy, there would have been many. (2.) When he hears it is Ahimaaz he concludes he brings good news,

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And the watchman cried and told the king,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

David sat between the two gates--that is, in the tower-house on the wall that overhung the gate of Mahanaim. Near it was a watchtower, on which a sentinel was posted, as in times of war, to notify every occurrence.

The words behind it

13 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.

  • וַיִּקְרָ֤אand he called out

    vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times

  • הַצֹּפֶה֙the watchman

    hatzopehH6822 →36 times

  • וַיַּגֵּ֣דand he told

    vaiyagedH5046 →370 times

  • לַמֶּ֔לֶךְto the king

    lamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • לְבַדּ֖וֹto only him

    levadoH905 →200 times

  • בְּשׂוֹרָ֣הnews

    besorahH1309 →6 times

  • בְּפִ֑יו[is] in mouth his

    befivH6310 →498 times

  • וַיֵּ֥לֶךְand he came

    vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • הָל֖וֹךְcontinuously <to come>

    halokhH1980 →1546 times

  • וְקָרֵֽב׃and approaching

    vekarevH7131 →

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

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies2

About 2 Samuel

The Death of Absalom — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Absalom — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 18 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 18 →