2 Samuel 15:20
in 2 Samuel 15In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may? return thou, and take back thy brethren; mercy and truth be with thee.
KJV
Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 15
Commentary
7 notes on this verseMercy, &c. - Since I am now unable to recompense thy kindness and fidelity to me, my hearty prayer to God is, that he would shew to thee his mercy, in blessing thee with all sorts of blessings, and his faithfulness in making good all these promises which he had made, not to Israelites only, but to all true hearted proselytes, such as thou art.
This site's exposition
all the Cherethites and Pelethites
on 2 Samuel 15:18-22
The Cherethites, the Pelethites and “six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath” march past the king. David urges Ittai, “a foreigner and an exile from your homeland”, to go back. Ittai swears, “As surely as the LORD lives”, that he will stay “whether it means life or death”.
This site's exposition
you arrived only yesterday
Albert Barnes takes yesterday loosely, meaning Ittai was a sojourner of a few years with no native stake in the quarrel. John Wesley reads the blessing of loving devotion and faithfulness as God's promises extended to faithful proselytes. Matthew Henry's image of shelter under God's wings recalls Ruth 2:12.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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
Whereas thou camest but yesterday,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Mercy and truth be with thee - May God ever show thee mercy, as thou showest it to me, and his truth ever preserve thee from error and delusion!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou camest but yesterday - Meaning, “Thou art not a native Israelite, but only a sojourner for a few years, it is not reason therefore that thou shouldst share my calamities. Return to thy place, thy adopted home Jerusalem, and to the king, Absalom” 2Sa 15:34-35.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תְּמ֣וֹל׀ | temol | [was] yesterday | H8543 → | |
| בּוֹאֶ֗ךָ | boekha | coming you | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וְהַיּ֞וֹם | vehaiyom | and this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֲנִֽיעֲךָ֤ | ʾanoakha | will I make wander? you | H5128 → | |
| עִמָּ֙נוּ֙ | ʾimanu | with us | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| לָלֶ֔כֶת | lalekhet | to go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וַאֲנִ֣י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| הוֹלֵ֔ךְ | holekh | [am] going | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עַ֥ל | ʾal | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| הוֹלֵ֑ךְ | holekh | [am] going | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| שׁ֣וּב | shuv | return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וְהָשֵׁ֧ב | vehashev | and take back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַחֶ֛יךָ | ʾacheikha | brothers your | H251 → | 630 times |
| עִמָּ֖ךְ | ʾimakh | [be] with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| חֶ֥סֶד | chesed | covenant loyalty | H2617 → | 247 times |
| וֶאֱמֶֽת׃ | veemet | and truth | H571 → | 127 times |
תְּמ֣וֹל׀[was] yesterday
temolH8543 →
בּוֹאֶ֗ךָcoming you
boekhaH935 →2568 times
וְהַיּ֞וֹםand this day
vehaiyomH3117 →2304 times
אֲנִֽיעֲךָ֤will I make wander? you
ʾanoakhaH5128 →
עִמָּ֙נוּ֙with us
ʾimanuH5973 →1050 times
לָלֶ֔כֶתto go
lalekhetH1980 →1546 times
וַאֲנִ֣יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
הוֹלֵ֔ךְ[am] going
holekhH1980 →1546 times
עַ֥לto
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
הוֹלֵ֑ךְ[am] going
holekhH1980 →1546 times
שׁ֣וּבreturn
shuvH7725 →1056 times
וְהָשֵׁ֧בand take back
vehashevH7725 →1056 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אַחֶ֛יךָbrothers your
ʾacheikhaH251 →630 times
עִמָּ֖ךְ[be] with you
ʾimakhH5973 →1050 times
חֶ֥סֶדcovenant loyalty
chesedH2617 →247 times
וֶאֱמֶֽת׃and truth
veemetH571 →127 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
John 1:17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
it leads to
- John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- Romans 6:14
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
- Romans 3:19–26
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Romans 5:20–21
The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
- John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- John 14:6
Through
2 Samuel 2:6Now may the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness, and I will also show you the same favor because you have done this.
it leads to
- Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 14:22
Do not those who contrive evil go astray? But those who plan goodness find loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Exodus 34:6
Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Matthew 5:7
Where this verse is studied
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); 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.