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2 Samuel 17:12

in 2 Samuel 17

Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. And of all the men with him, not even one will remain.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him we will not leave so much as one.

KJV

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 17

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Perhaps Absalom was better pleased with the design of cutting off all the men that were with him, having a particular antipathy to some of David's friends, than with Ahithophel's project of smiting the king only.

This site's exposition

is not good at this time

on 2 Samuel 17:7-13

Hushai concedes what everyone in the room already knows, that Ahithophel's counsel has generally been sound, and stakes his objection only on this time, which gives his dissent the appearance of fairness rather than rivalry. His argument is picture and flattery together: David and his mighty men are a bear robbed of her whelps, too dangerous to be caught by surprise, so let Absalom instead gather all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and lead the host himself, as the sand of the sea for multitude. Every word plays to the young man's vanity and buys David the one thing Ahithophel's plan would have denied him, time.

This site's exposition

like dew on the ground

Albert Barnes reads the dew as numbers beyond counting. The promise that none of David's men will survive reverses Ahithophel's offer to kill the king alone. Matthew Henry thinks Absalom liked this bloodier plan better, having a grudge against some of his father's friends.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

As the dew - Like the drops of dew, in the vast number of our host, and in our irresistible and unavoidable descent upon our enemies.

The words behind it

23 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.

  • וּבָ֣אנוּand we will come

    uvanuH935 →2568 times

  • אֵלָ֗יוagainst him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • בְּאַחַ֤דin one of

    beachatH259 →971 times

  • הַמְּקוֹמֹת֙the places

    hamekomotH4725 →401 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • נִמְצָ֣אhe is found

    nimtza'H4672 →455 times

  • שָׁ֔םthere

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • וְנַ֣חְנוּand we will set

    venachnuH5117 →142 times

  • עָלָ֔יוon him

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר<just> when

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • יִפֹּ֥לit will fall

    yipolH5307 →435 times

  • הַטַּ֖לthe dew

    hatalH2919 →

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאֲדָמָ֑הthe ground

    haadamahH127 →225 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • נ֥וֹתַרwe will leave

    notarH3498 →106 times

  • בּ֛וֹamong him

    bo

  • וּבְכָל־and among all

    uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָאֲנָשִׁ֥יםthe men

    haanashimH582 →566 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • אִתּ֖וֹ[are] with him

    ʾitoH854 →929 times

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • אֶחָֽד׃one

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

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

Related verses

6 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.

1 Kings 20:10Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”2 works1 Samuel 23:23Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.”2 works2 Kings 18:23Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!2 worksIsaiah 10:13–14For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.2 works2 Kings 19:24I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”2 worksObadiah 1:3The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’2 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

    1 Kings 20:10

    Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 19:2

      So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the lives of those…

    • Isaiah 10:13–14

      For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Exodus 11:8

      And all these officials of yours will come and bow before me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that, I will depart.” And hot with anger, Moses left Pharaoh’s…

    • 2 Samuel 17:12–13

      Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. And of all the men with him, not even one will remain.

    • Isaiah 37:24–25

      Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut…

  • Through

    2 Kings 18:23

    Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 20:10

      Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 23:23

    Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out…

    it leads to

    • Mark 14:10–11

      Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.

    • Micah 5:2

      But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days…

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 17 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 17 →