2 Samuel 17:3
in 2 Samuel 17and bring all the people back to you as a bride returning to her husband. You seek the life of only one man; then all the people will be at peace.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.
KJV
And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 17
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The man whom thou seekest - namely, David. Ahithophel means to say: “If I can only smite David, there will be no civil war, all the people will peaceably submit.”
This site's exposition
Let me now choose out twelve thousand men
on 2 Samuel 17:1-3
Ahithophel proposes a narrow strike: twelve thousand men, one night, one target. His plan is surgical rather than a general war, smite the king only and bring all the people back in peace, and Matthew Henry hears the shape of Caiaphas at John 11:50 in it, one man dying so the nation need not perish. This is Ahithophel's second counsel in as many chapters; his first, the seizing of David's concubines at 16:21, had already been carried out exactly as he gave it.
This site's exposition
as a bride returning
Ahithophel pictures all the people coming back to Absalom as a bride returning to her husband, as if the revolt were a marriage restored. Adam Clarke reads the older wording to mean that David is the one man whose life holds the whole, and his death ends all resistance. Albert Barnes hears a promise of peace.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
There is nothing so foreign to a Christian soul as haughtiness. Haughtiness, I say, not boldness nor courage, for these are congenial. But these are one thing, and that another; so too humility is one thing, and meanness, flattery, and adulation another. I will now, if you wish, give you examples of all these qualities. For these things which are contraries, seem in some way to be placed near together, as the tares to the wheat, and the thorns to the rose. But while babes might easily be deceived, they who are men in truth, and are skilled in spiritual husbandry, know how to separate what is really good from the bad. Let me then lay before you examples of these qualities from the Scriptures. What is flattery, and meanness, and adulation? Ziba flattered David out of season, and falsely slandered his master. Much more did Ahitophel flatter Absalom. But David was not so, but he was humble. For the deceitful are flatterers, as when they say, "O king, live for ever." Again, what flatterers the magicians are.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Let that one man die for the people, John xi. Kill the heir, and the inheritance shall be ours, Matt. xxi. But the counsel of them both was turned into foolishness.
And I will bring back all the people unto thee,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But his dexterity was chiefly displayed in that part of his counsel which recommended a general levy throughout the country; and that Absalom should take command of it in person--thereby flattering at once the pride and ambition of the usurper. The bait was caught by the vainglorious and wicked prince.
The man whom thou seekest is as if all returned - Only secure David, and all Israel will be on thy side. He is the soul of the whole; destroy him, and all the rest will submit.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָשִׁ֥יבָה | veashivah | and I will bring back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֵלֶ֑יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כְּשׁ֣וּב | keshuv | as returns | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| הַכֹּ֔ל | hakol | <the> everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאִישׁ֙ | haish | the man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| מְבַקֵּ֔שׁ | mevakesh | [are] seeking | H1245 → | 225 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| יִהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שָׁלֽוֹם׃ | shalom | peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
וְאָשִׁ֥יבָהand I will bring back
veashivahH7725 →1056 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אֵלֶ֑יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
כְּשׁ֣וּבas returns
keshuvH7725 →1056 times
הַכֹּ֔ל<the> everything
hakolH3605 →5413 times
הָאִישׁ֙the man
haishH376 →1663 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אַתָּ֣הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
מְבַקֵּ֔שׁ[are] seeking
mevakeshH1245 →225 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
יִהְיֶ֥הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
שָׁלֽוֹם׃peace
shalomH7965 →236 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
1 Thessalonians 5:3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
it leads to
- Luke 21:34–35
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Matthew 24:37–39
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- Luke 17:26–30
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- Revelation 18:7–8
As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow…
- Luke 21:34–35
Through
Isaiah 48:22“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 57:21
“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
- Job 15:20–24
A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
- Luke 19:42
and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.
- Isaiah 57:21
Through
Isaiah 57:21“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 48:22
“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
- Isaiah 48:22
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON PHILIPPIANS 5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.