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2 Samuel 15:18

in 2 Samuel 15

and all his servants marched past him—all the Cherethites and Pelethites, and six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men that came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

KJV

And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

This verse in 2 Samuel 15

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
Passed on - Rather, “crossed” the Brook Kidron, as in 2Sa 15:22-23. Gittites - During David’s residence in the country of the Philistines he attached such a band to himself; and after the settlement of his kingdom, and the subjugation of the Philistines, the band received recruits from Gath, perhaps with the king of Gath’s consent. They were now under the command of Ittai the Gittite, a foreigner 2Sa 15:19, and “his brethren” 2Sa 15:20. The number 600 probably indicates that this band or regiment of Gittites had its origin in David’s band of 600 1Sa 23:13; 1Sa 27:

This site's exposition

the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites

on 2 Samuel 15:18-22

David's foreign guard passes before him first, six hundred Gittites who followed him out of Gath itself years earlier. Among them Ittai refuses David's offer of release at verse 20, and his oath at verse 21, as the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, binds him to the king's fate in life or in death. A stranger and an exile of a single day outlasts the loyalty David's own son has just broken, and David lets him pass over the brook with everything he owns.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

David made them of his garde du corps--his body-guard, and they adhered to him in his distress. The Son of David found not such great faith in Israel as in a Roman centurion and a woman of Canaan.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

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 all his servants passed on beside him,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Far away. [Targum Yonasan translates:] "in a far away place."
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 15:17:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

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

22 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.

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH36055413 times

  • עֲבָדָיו֙servants his

    ʾavadavH5650799 times

  • עֹבְרִ֣ים[were] passing by

    ʾoerimH5674556 times

  • עַל־at

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • יָד֔וֹside his

    yadoH30271618 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH36055413 times

  • הַכְּרֵתִ֖יthe Kerethite[s]

    hakeretiH377410 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH36055413 times

  • הַפְּלֵתִ֑יthe Pelethite[s]

    hapeletiH64327 times

  • וְכָֽל־and all

    vekholH36055413 times

  • הַגִּתִּ֞יםthe Gittites

    hagitimH166310 times

  • שֵׁשׁ־six

    shesh-H8337216 times

  • מֵא֣וֹתhundred<s>

    meotH3967581 times

  • אִ֗ישׁman

    ʾishH3761663 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H8345497 times

  • בָּ֤אוּthey had come

    bauH9352568 times

  • בְרַגְלוֹ֙at foot his

    veragloH7272247 times

  • מִגַּ֔תfrom Gath

    migatH166132 times

  • עֹבְרִ֖ים[were] passing by

    ʾoerimH5674556 times

  • עַל־at

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • פְּנֵ֥י[the] face of

    peneiH64402123 times

  • הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃the king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

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

The walk

8 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 Chronicles 18:17

    Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief officials at the king’s side.

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 8:18

      Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 30:14

    We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

    it leads to

    • Zephaniah 2:5

      Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will…

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Kings 1:44

      And with Solomon, the king has sent Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, and they have set him on the king’s mule.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Ezekiel 25:16

      therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant along the coast.

    • 1 Kings 1:38

      Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, went down and set Solomon on King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 8:18

    Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 30:14

      We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Samuel 20:23

      Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 20:23

    Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 8:16–18

      Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

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.

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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.