2 Samuel 15:33
in 2 Samuel 15David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David said unto him, If thou passest on with me, then thou wilt be a burden unto me:
KJV
Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me:
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This verse in 2 Samuel 15
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThen thou shalt be a burden unto me - It appears that Hushai was not a warrior, but was a wise, prudent, and discreet man, who could well serve David by gaining him intelligence of Absalom’s conspiracy; and he directs him to form a strict confederacy with the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and to make use of their sons as couriers between Jerusalem and David’s place of retreat.
This site's exposition
Hushai the Archite came to meet him
on 2 Samuel 15:32-34
Hushai meets David at the mountaintop where David worships, dressed for mourning, coat rent and earth on his head, ready to follow his king into exile. David sends him back instead, into the very court that has just cast David out, so Hushai's presence there can defeat Ahithophel's counsel from within rather than by force. The prayer of verse 31 gets its human means the moment after it is prayed.
This site's exposition
a burden to me
John Gill suggests Hushai may have been an old man, unfit for the march and another mouth on scant provisions. Adam Clarke reads him as a wise counselor, of more use in the city than on the road. Barzillai uses the same word of his own age at 19:35.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Unto whom David said,.... After he had heard what he had to say, and what tidings he brought: and if thou passest on with me; in his march and flight: then thou shalt be a burden to me; being to be maintained by him; and David having but scanty provisions, and so could not receive useless persons, as Hushai might be, perhaps an old man, that could be of no service to him, and unfit for travelling, and so would rather be an hinderance than an help unto him.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| דָּוִ֑ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אִ֚ם | ʾim | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| עָבַ֣רְתָּ | ʾavarta | you pass over | H5674 → | 556 times |
| אִתִּ֔י | ʾiti | with me | H854 → | 929 times |
| וְהָיִ֥תָ | vehayita | and you will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עָלַ֖י | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לְמַשָּֽׂא׃ | lemasa' | <into> a burden | H4853 → |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
ל֖וֹto <the> him
lo
דָּוִ֑דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אִ֚םif
ʾimH518 →1069 times
עָבַ֣רְתָּyou pass over
ʾavartaH5674 →556 times
אִתִּ֔יwith me
ʾitiH854 →929 times
וְהָיִ֥תָand you will become
vehayitaH1961 →3559 times
עָלַ֖יon me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
לְמַשָּֽׂא׃<into> a burden
lemasa'H4853 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
2 Samuel 19:35I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men…
it leads to
- Ezra 2:65
in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 200 male and female singers.
- Psalms 90:10
The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty if we are strong— yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
- Isaiah 5:11–12
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
- Nehemiah 7:67
in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 245 male and female singers.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1–5
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
- Ezra 2:65
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.