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2 Samuel 5:8

in 2 Samuel 5

On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And David said on that day, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and smite the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul. Wherefore they say, There are the blind and the lame; he cannot come into the house.

KJV

And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 5

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Tertullian

AGAINST MARCION 4.36 · Written before 220.

For (here is one of Marcion's antitheses): whereas David long ago, in the capture of Zion, was offended by the blind who opposed his admission (into the stronghold). In this respect (I should rather say) that they were a type of people equally blind, who in later times would not admit Christ to be the son of David. So, on the contrary, Christ helped the blind man to show, by this act, that he was not David's son and how different in disposition he was, by being kind to the blind while David ordered them to be slain.

This site's exposition

use the water shaft

on 2 Samuel 5:8-9

David's men go up by the water shaft, and the defenders' taunt becomes a saying: “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace”. David takes up residence in the fortress, calls it the City of David and builds it up “from the supporting terraces inward”.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

To the gutter - That is, whosoever scaleth the fort, or getteth up to the top of it, where the gutter was. That are hated - The Jebusites, and the lame, and the blind, Who had probably themselves insulted him, and blasphemed God.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

His fixing his royal seat in Sion. He himself dwelt in the fort (the strength whereof, which had given him opposition, and was a terror to him, now contributed to his safety), and he built houses round about for his attendants and guards (

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

And David said on that day,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

i. e. “Whosoever will smite the Jebusites, let him reach both the lame and the blind, who are the hated of David’s soul, by the gutter or water-course, and he shall be chief.” The only access to the citadel was where the water had worn a channel (some understand a subterranean channel), and where there was, in consequence, some vegetation in the rock. Joab (see the marginal reference) took the hint, and with all the activity that had distinguished his brother Anabel 2Sa 2:18, climbed up first.

The words behind it

25 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • דָּוִ֜דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day

    baiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַה֗וּא<the> that

    hahu'H1931 →1879 times

  • כָּל־any

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מַכֵּ֤ה[one who] strikes

    makehH5221 →499 times

  • יְבֻסִי֙<of> a Jebusite

    yevusiH2983 →41 times

  • וְיִגַּ֣עand let him approach

    veyiga'H5060 →150 times

  • בַּצִּנּ֔וֹרby the water tunnel

    batzinorH6794 →

  • וְאֶת־<and> <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הַפִּסְחִים֙the lame [people]

    hapischimH6455 →14 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הַ֣עִוְרִ֔יםthe blind [people]

    haivrimH5787 →26 times

  • שְׂנֻאֵ֖י[who are] hated

    senovH8130 →146 times

  • נֶ֣פֶשׁof [the] self of

    nefeshH5315 →754 times

  • דָּוִ֑דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • עַל־there-

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • כֵּן֙-fore

    kenH3651 →771 times

  • יֹֽאמְר֔וּpeople say

    yomeruH559 →5305 times

  • עִוֵּ֣רa blind [person]

    ʾiverH5787 →26 times

  • וּפִסֵּ֔חַand a lame [person]

    ufiseachH6455 →14 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָב֖וֹאhe will go

    yavo'H935 →2568 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַבָּֽיִת׃the house

    habayitH1004 →2046 times

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

Related verses

6 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.

1 Chronicles 11:6–9Now David had said, “Whoever is the first to strike down a Jebusite will become chief commander.” And Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and he became the chief.2 worksJoshua 15:16–17And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”2 works2 Samuel 24:16But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.2 worksJoel 2:7They charge like mighty men; they scale the walls like men of war. Each one marches in formation, not swerving from the course.2 worksJoshua 18:28Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen cities, along with their villages. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.2 works1 Samuel 17:25Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.”1 works

The walk

5 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 Samuel 17:25

    Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he…

    it leads to

    • Joshua 15:16

      And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”

    • Revelation 2:7

      He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the…

    • Revelation 3:12

      The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the…

    • Revelation 3:5

      Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His…

    • Matthew 17:26

      “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared.

Where this verse is studied

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 5 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.36.

Read on in 2 Samuel 5 →