2 Samuel 15:1
in 2 Samuel 15Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
KJV
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And it came to pass ... - The working out of Nathan’s prophecy (marginal reference) is the clue to the course of the narrative. How long after Absalom’s return these events occurred we are not told.
This site's exposition
fifty men to run before him
on 2 Samuel 15:1-3
Absalom stages himself as king before he is one. The chariots, horses and fifty runners going before him are the very furniture Samuel had named years before as the manner of the king that would take from Israel, in 1 Samuel 8:11. He borrows the picture of royalty rather than wait for the office, and every man who watches him pass at the gate reads the message he intends.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
11 ); and this is Absalom's manner. Fifty footmen (in rich liveries we may suppose) running before him, to give notice of his approach, would highly gratify his pride and the people's foolish fancy. David thinks that this parade is designed only to grace his court, and connives at it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
And it came to pass after this,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The royal guards, called runners, avant couriers, amounted to fifty (1Ki 1:5). The chariot, as the Hebrew indicates, was of a magnificent style; and the horses, a novelty among the Hebrew people, only introduced in that age as an appendage of royalty (Ps 32:9; 66:12), formed a splendid retinue, which would make him "the observed of all observers."
Absalom prepared him chariots and horses - After all that has been said to prove that horses here mean horsemen, I think it most likely that the writer would have us to understand chariots drawn by horses; not by mules or such like cattle. Fifty men to run before him - Affecting in every respect the regal state by this establishment. Of this man Calmet collects the following character: “He was a bold, violent, revengeful, haughty, enterprising, magnificent, eloquent, and popular prince; he was also rich, ambitious, and vain of his personal accomplishments: after the death of Amnon, and his reconciliation to his father, he saw no hindrance in his way to the throne. He despised Solomon because of the meanness of his birth, and his tender years. He was himself of the blood royal, not only by his father David, but also by his mother Maacah, daughter to Talmai, king of Geshur: and, doubtless, in his own apprehension, of sufficient age, authority, and wisdom, to sustain the weight of government. There was properly now no competitor in his way: Amnon, David’s first-born, was dead. Of Chileab, his second son by Abigail, we hear nothing; and Absalom was the third: see 2Sa 3:2-5. He, therefore, seemed to stand nearest to the throne; but his sin was, that he sought it during his father’s life, and endeavored to dethrone him in order to sit in his stead.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And [an enfourage of] fifty men etc. All of them had their thighs removed and the heals of their feet cut out. 1 Sanhedrin 21a.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מֵאַ֣חֲרֵי | meacharei | from after | H310 → | 715 times |
| כֵ֔ן | khen | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| וַיַּ֤עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he acquired | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לוֹ֙ | lo | for <the> himself | ||
| אַבְשָׁל֔וֹם | ʾavshalom | Absalom | H53 → | 110 times |
| מֶרְכָּבָ֖ה | merkavah | a chariot | H4818 → | |
| וְסֻסִ֑ים | vesusim | and horses | H5483 → | |
| וַחֲמִשִּׁ֥ים | vachamishim | and fifty | H2572 → | |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| רָצִ֥ים | ratzim | [who] ran | H7323 → | 103 times |
| לְפָנָֽיו׃ | lefanav | <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
וַֽיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
מֵאַ֣חֲרֵיfrom after
meachareiH310 →715 times
כֵ֔ןthus
khenH3651 →771 times
וַיַּ֤עַשׂand he acquired
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
לוֹ֙for <the> himself
lo
אַבְשָׁל֔וֹםAbsalom
ʾavshalomH53 →110 times
מֶרְכָּבָ֖הa chariot
merkavahH4818 →
וְסֻסִ֑יםand horses
vesusimH5483 →
וַחֲמִשִּׁ֥יםand fifty
vachamishimH2572 →
אִ֖ישׁman
ʾishH376 →1663 times
רָצִ֥ים[who] ran
ratzimH7323 →103 times
לְפָנָֽיו׃<to> before him
lefanavH6440 →2123 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
Psalms 20:7Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 31:1
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Proverbs 21:31
A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.
- Psalms 33:16–17
No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
- 2 Chronicles 32:8
With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah…
- Isaiah 31:1
Through
2 Samuel 12:11This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 16:21–22
Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who…
- 2 Samuel 16:21–22
Through
Deuteronomy 17:16But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way…
it leads to
- Isaiah 31:1–3
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Ezekiel 17:15
But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break…
- Isaiah 31:1–3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.