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2 Samuel 15:19

in 2 Samuel 15

Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return, and abide with the king: for thou art a foreigner, and also an exile; return to thine own place.

KJV

Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 15

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Thou art a stranger, and also an exile - Some suppose that Ittai was the son of Achish, king of Gath, who was very much attached to David, and banished from his father’s court on that account. He and his six hundred men are generally supposed to have been proselytes to the Jewish religion.

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.

This site's exposition

Ittai the Gittite

Adam Clarke reports a view that Ittai was a son of Achish of Gath, banished for his attachment to David, and that his men were proselytes. John Wesley notes that David already calls Absalom the king. Matthew Henry sees a generous soul unwilling to drag others into his trouble.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

No, return with thy brethren." Generous souls are more concerned at the share others have in their troubles than at their own. Ittai shall therefore be dismissed with a blessing: Mercy and truth be with thee, that is, God's mercy and truth, mercy according to promise, the promise made to those who renounce other gods and put themselves under the wings off the divine Majesty.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Thy place - To Jerusalem, where thy settled abode now is. The king - With Absalom who is now made king. An exile - Not much concerned in our affairs, and therefore not fit to be involved in our troubles.
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite,....

The words behind it

21 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.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אִתַּ֣יIttai

    ʾitaiH863 →9 times

  • הַגִּתִּ֔יthe Gittite

    hagitiH1663 →10 times

  • לָ֧מָּה<to> why?

    lamahH4100 →752 times

  • תֵלֵ֛ךְwill you go

    telekhH1980 →1546 times

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • אַתָּ֖הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • אִתָּ֑נוּwith us

    ʾitanuH854 →929 times

  • שׁ֣וּבreturn

    shuvH7725 →1056 times

  • וְשֵׁ֤בand dwell

    veshevH3427 →1079 times

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • נָכְרִ֣י[are] a foreigner

    nakheriH5237 →

  • אַ֔תָּהyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • וְגַם־and also

    vegam-H1571 →769 times

  • גֹּלֶ֥ה[are] an exile

    golehH1540 →186 times

  • אַתָּ֖הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • לִמְקוֹמֶֽךָ׃to place your

    limkomechaH4725 →401 times

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

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

5 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

    2 Samuel 18:2

    He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will…

    it leads to

    • Judges 7:16

      And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.

    • 2 Samuel 15:19–22

      Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your…

    • 2 Samuel 10:7–10

      On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men.

    • Psalms 27:1–3

      The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?

    • Judges 7:19

      Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the…

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 15 →

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; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 15 →