2 Samuel 13:38
in 2 Samuel 13After Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, he stayed there three years.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
KJV
So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 13
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis is the first introduction of divine punishment; the first but not the only one. A long series of great tribulations followed, and an almost unending succession of misfortunes scarcely left his house. Tamar was corrupted by the madness of Amnon, and Amnon was slain …
This site's exposition
went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud
on 2 Samuel 13:37-39
Absalom flees to his mother's father Talmai, king of Geshur, a foreign court beyond David's reach and beyond any city of refuge, since this killing was planned rather than accidental. Three years pass there while David mourns Amnon daily, and by the chapter's last verse the mourning has turned into something else: a father's longing for the son who murdered his brother. That longing, left unresolved here, is the seam the next two chapters open, when Joab and a wise woman will have to talk David into calling Absalom home.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
So Absalom fled,....
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.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַבְשָׁל֥וֹם | veavshalom | and Absalom | H53 → | 110 times |
| בָּרַ֖ח | barach | he fled | H1272 → | 63 times |
| וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| גְּשׁ֑וּר | geshur | Geshur | H1650 → | 9 times |
| וַיְהִי־ | vayhi- | and he was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| שָׁלֹ֥שׁ | shalosh | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| שָׁנִֽים׃ | shanim | years | H8141 → | 877 times |
וְאַבְשָׁל֥וֹםand Absalom
veavshalomH53 →110 times
בָּרַ֖חhe fled
barachH1272 →63 times
וַיֵּ֣לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
גְּשׁ֑וּרGeshur
geshurH1650 →9 times
וַיְהִי־and he was
vayhi-H1961 →3559 times
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
שָׁלֹ֥שׁthree
shaloshH7969 →432 times
שָׁנִֽים׃years
shanimH8141 →877 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
2 Samuel 15:8For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 13:37–38
Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But David mourned for his son every day.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 28:20–21
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,
- 1 Samuel 1:11
And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then…
- Jeremiah 9:3–5
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 13:37–38
Through
2 Samuel 14:32“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 20:8
Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me…
- Exodus 14:12
Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in…
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- Genesis 3:12
And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
- 1 Samuel 20:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Salvian the Presbyter, THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 2.5.