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2 Samuel 15:6

in 2 Samuel 15

Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

KJV

And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 15

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

So Absalom stole the hearts - His manner of doing this is circumstantially related above. He was thoroughly versed in the arts of the demagogue; and the common people, the vile mass, heard him gladly. He used the patriot’s arguments, and was every thing of the kind, as far as promise could go. He found fault with men in power; and he only wanted their place, like all other pretended patriots, that he might act as they did, or worse.

This 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.

This site's exposition

he stole the hearts

Albert Barnes notes that the same phrase means deceived at Genesis 31:20, where Jacob slips away from Laban unawares. John Gill adds that the hearts were the king's by right, so Absalom took what belonged to another. Adam Clarke calls him a practiced demagogue.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS 15 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

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.

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On the Duties of the Clergy 2.22.112-14 · Written before 397.

proposed

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 Awakening1 voice

And in this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment,.... Told them there was none to be had, wished that he was in office to administer it to them, and behaved in the above loving manner towards them: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel; got the affections of the people in a private and clandestine manner, and robbed the king of them, who had the best right unto them.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.
Stole the hearts - i. e., deceived them, for so the same phrase means Gen 31:20, Gen 31:26.

The words behind it

17 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.

  • וַיַּ֨עַשׂand he did

    vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times

  • אַבְשָׁל֜וֹםAbsalom

    ʾavshalomH53 →110 times

  • כַּדָּבָ֤רaccording to the manner

    kadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • הַזֶּה֙<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • לְכָל־to all

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יָבֹ֥אוּthey came

    yavouH935 →2568 times

  • לַמִּשְׁפָּ֖טfor <the> judgment

    lamishpatH4941 →422 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמֶּ֑לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וַיְגַנֵּב֙and he stole

    vayganevH1589 →40 times

  • אַבְשָׁל֔וֹםAbsalom

    ʾavshalomH53 →110 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • לֵ֖ב[the] heart of

    levH3820 →595 times

  • אַנְשֵׁ֥י[the] men of

    ʾansheiH582 →566 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ פIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

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

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Romans 16:18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.6 worksPsalms 62:9Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.4 works2 Samuel 12:11This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.4 works2 Peter 2:3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.3 works2 Samuel 15:13Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”3 worksProverbs 11:9With his mouth the ungodly man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.2 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Judges 9:1Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,2 works2 Samuel 3:36All the people took note and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them.2 works2 Samuel 18:7There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men.2 worksEcclesiastes 4:15I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.2 works1 Kings 2:15“You know that the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected that I should reign, but the kingship has turned to my brother, for it has come to him from the LORD.1 works

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

    Romans 16:18

    For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

    it leads to

    • Colossians 2:4

      I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.

    • Matthew 7:15

      Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

    • Micah 3:5

      This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their…

    • 1 Timothy 6:5

      and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.

    • Philippians 3:19

      Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

  • Through

    2 Peter 2:3

    In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 2:17

      For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.

    • Romans 16:18

      For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

    • Deuteronomy 32:35

      Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.

Read on in 2 Samuel 15 →