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2 Samuel 13:30

in 2 Samuel 13

While they were on the way, a report reached David: “Absalom has struck down all the sons of the king; not one of them is left!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that the tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the king’s sons, and there is not one of them left.

KJV

And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the king’s sons, and there is not one of them left.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 13

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Absalom hath slain all the king’s sons - Fame never lessens but always magnifies a fact. Report, contrary to the nature of all other things, gains strength by going. Virgil has given, in his best manner, a fine personification of Fame or Evil Report. - Aen. iv., 173. Extemplo Libyae magnas it Fama per urbes; Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius ullum, Mobilitate viget, viresque adquirit eundo, etc. “Now Fame, tremendous fiend! without delay, Through Libyan cities took her rapid way; Fame, the swift plague, that every moment grows, And gains new strength and vigor as she goes,” etc.

This site's exposition

not one of them left

The report that reaches David before the facts do is worse than the truth, all the king's sons rather than one, and grief comes to the palace on a rumor before the real news arrives. Adam Clarke notes that a report always grows larger than the event it carries, and this verse is the first place in the chapter where that pattern costs David dearly. He will tear his garments for sons who are alive before he learns which one is dead.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

And it came to pass while they were in the way,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Amnon's character, we have reason to think, was bad in other things; if he had not forsaken God, he would never have been given up to these vile affections. Godly parents have often been afflicted with wicked children; grace does not run in the blood, but corruption does.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is common for fame to make bad worse; and the first news of such a thing as this represents it as more dreadful than afterwards it proves. Let us not therefore be afraid of evil tidings, while they want confirmation, but, when we hear the worst, hope the best, at least hope better.

The words behind it

18 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.

  • וַֽיְהִי֙and it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • הֵ֣מָּהthey

    hemahH1992 →553 times

  • בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ[were] on the way

    vaderekhH1870 →707 times

  • וְהַשְּׁמֻעָ֣הand the report

    vehashemuahH8052 →

  • בָ֔אָהit came

    vaahH935 →2568 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • דָּוִ֖דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הִכָּ֤הhe has struck down

    hikahH5221 →499 times

  • אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙Absalom

    ʾavshalomH53 →110 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • בְּנֵ֣י[the] sons of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • נוֹתַ֥רhe is left

    notarH3498 →106 times

  • מֵהֶ֖םof <the> them

    mehem

  • אֶחָֽד׃ סone

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

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

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 13 →

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

Read on in 2 Samuel 13 →