2 Samuel 15:4
in 2 Samuel 15And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
KJV
Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
⋯
This verse in 2 Samuel 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
made judge in the land
on 2 Samuel 15:4-6
Absalom manufactures a grievance, that no man is deputed of the king to hear a cause, and offers himself as the remedy no one requested. He meets each petitioner at the gate with an embrace, and the theft is named outright at verse 6: Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Henry reads the show of humility as the method itself, since a true servant of the people would have needed no crowd to prove it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
For nothing is so necessary for the proper conduct of affairs as prudence; and there is no greater hindrance to prudence than wickedness, and malice, and hollowness. Look at bilious persons, how unsightly they are, with all their bloom withered away. How weak they are, and puny, and unfit for anything. So also are souls of this nature. What else is wickedness, but a jaundice of the soul? Wickedness then has no strength in it, indeed it has not. Have ye a mind that I again make what I am saying plain to you by an instance, by setting before you the portraits of a treacherous and a guileless man? Absalom was a treacherous man, and "stole all men's hearts." And observe how great was his treachery. "He went about," it saith, "and said, 'Hast thou no judgment?'" wishing to conciliate every one to himself. But David was guileless. What then? Look at the end of them both, look, how full of utter madness was the former! For inasmuch as he looked solely to the hurt of his father, in all other things he was blinded. But not so David. For "he that walketh uprightly, walketh surely"; and reasonably; he is one that manages nothing over-subtilely, the man who devises no evil.
Moreover, due measure befits even our words and instructions, that it may not seem as though there was either too great mildness or too much harshness. Many prefer to be too mild, so as to appear to be good. But it is certain that nothing feigned or false can bear the form of true virtue; no, it cannot even last.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A fit man indeed to be a judge, who would give judgment upon hearing one side only! For he has a bad cause indeed that cannot put a good colour upon it, when he himself has the telling of the story. But, [2.] He told them that it was to no purpose to appeal to the throne: " There is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Absalom said, moreover,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
This dissatisfaction was artfully fomented by Absalom, who addressed himself to the various suitors; and after briefly hearing their tale, he gratified everyone with a favorable opinion of his case.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַבְשָׁל֔וֹם | ʾavshalom | Absalom | H53 → | 110 times |
| מִי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יְשִׂמֵ֥נִי | yesimeni | will he make me | H7760 → | 584 times |
| שֹׁפֵ֖ט | shofet | a judge | H8199 → | 202 times |
| בָּאָ֑רֶץ | baaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְעָלַ֗י | vealai | and to me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יָב֥וֹא | yavo' | he will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אִ֛ישׁ | ʾish | person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֲשֶֽׁר־ | ʾasher- | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִהְיֶה־ | yihyeh- | it belongs | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לּוֹ־ | lo- | to <the> him | ||
| רִ֥יב | riv | a case at law | H7379 → | 61 times |
| וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט | umishpat | and a judgment | H4941 → | 422 times |
| וְהִצְדַּקְתִּֽיו׃ | vehitzdaktiv | and I will do justice him | H6663 → |
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אַבְשָׁל֔וֹםAbsalom
ʾavshalomH53 →110 times
מִי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
יְשִׂמֵ֥נִיwill he make me
yesimeniH7760 →584 times
שֹׁפֵ֖טa judge
shofetH8199 →202 times
בָּאָ֑רֶץin the land
baaretzH776 →2504 times
וְעָלַ֗יand to me
vealaiH5921 →5755 times
יָב֥וֹאhe will come
yavo'H935 →2568 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אִ֛ישׁperson
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֲשֶֽׁר־whom
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יִהְיֶה־it belongs
yihyeh-H1961 →3559 times
לּוֹ־to <the> him
lo-
רִ֥יבa case at law
rivH7379 →61 times
וּמִשְׁפָּ֖טand a judgment
umishpatH4941 →422 times
וְהִצְדַּקְתִּֽיו׃and I will do justice him
vehitzdaktivH6663 →
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
Proverbs 27:2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—a stranger, and not your own lips.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 10:18
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
- Proverbs 25:27
It is not good to eat too much honey or to search out one’s own glory.
- 2 Corinthians 10:12
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance.
- 2 Corinthians 12:11
I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
- 2 Corinthians 10:18
Through
2 Peter 2:19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
it leads to
- John 8:34
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
- Romans 6:16–22
Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to…
- Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- 1 Peter 2:16
Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
- John 8:34
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 2.22.112-14; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS 15; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.