2 Samuel 15:13
in 2 Samuel 15Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
KJV
And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 15
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom - It is very difficult to account for this general defection of the people. Several reasons are given: 1. David was old or afflicted, and could not well attend to the administration of justice in the land. 2. It does appear that the king did not attend to the affairs of state, and that there were no properly appointed judges in the land; see 2Sa 15:3. 3. Joab’s power was overgrown; he was wicked and insolent, oppressive to the people, and David was afraid to execute the laws against him.
This site's exposition
the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom
A single messenger collapses years of scheming into one sentence, and the report echoes verse 6's own verdict word for word: the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. David hears the theft confirmed rather than merely suspected. What follows is flight, not deliberation.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Hebron - This place he chose as being an eminent city, and next to Jerusalem, the chief of the tribe of Judah, and the place where his father began his kingdom, which he took for a good omen. And where it is probable he had secured many friends. It was also at a convenient distance from Jerusalem.
And there came a messenger to David,.... Perhaps one of the two hundred that went with Absalom, ignorant of his design; which, when discovered, he disapproved of, and got away from him, and came to David, and informed him how things were: saying, the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom; to make him king.
The matter was bad enough, and yet it seems to have been made worse to him (as such things commonly are) than really it was; for he was told that the hearts of the men of Israel (that is, the generality of them, at least the leading men) were after Absalom.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹא֙ | vaiyavo' | and he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַמַּגִּ֔יד | hamagid | the messenger | H5046 → | 370 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| דָּוִ֖ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הָיָ֛ה | hayah | it is | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לֶב־ | lev- | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | [the] man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֥י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| אַבְשָׁלֽוֹם׃ | ʾavshalom | Absalom | H53 → | 110 times |
וַיָּבֹא֙and he came
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
הַמַּגִּ֔ידthe messenger
hamagidH5046 →370 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
דָּוִ֖דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הָיָ֛הit is
hayahH1961 →3559 times
לֶב־[the] heart of
lev-H3820 →595 times
אִ֥ישׁ[the] man of
ʾishH376 →1663 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אַחֲרֵ֥יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
אַבְשָׁלֽוֹם׃Absalom
ʾavshalomH53 →110 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 62:9Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
it leads to
- Psalms 39:5
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
- Isaiah 40:15
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
- Isaiah 40:17
All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
- Psalms 118:9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
- Psalms 39:11
You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
- Psalms 39:5
Through
2 Samuel 15:6Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
it leads to
- Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Romans 16:18
Through
Matthew 27:22“What then should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify Him!”
it leads to
- John 19:14–15
It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”
- Isaiah 53:2–3
He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.
- John 19:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.