2 Samuel 17:4
in 2 Samuel 17This proposal seemed good to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
KJV
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 17
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA 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.
This site's exposition
the saying pleased Absalom well
on 2 Samuel 17:4-6
The saying pleases Absalom, but he still calls for Hushai's word before acting on it, a fickleness Barnes reads as providence keeping the door open a second time. Hushai's presence in the council chamber is no accident: David had sent him back from the ascent of Olivet at 15:32-37 with one assignment, to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, and this is the moment that assignment is tested. Absalom's own question, if not, speak thou, invites the very contradiction that will undo him.
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 Awakening1 voice
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all elders of Israel.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּישַׁ֥ר | vaiyishar | and it was pleasing | H3474 → | |
| הַדָּבָ֖ר | hadavar | the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| בְּעֵינֵ֣י | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| אַבְשָׁלֹ֑ם | ʾavshalom | Absalom | H53 → | 110 times |
| וּבְעֵינֵ֖י | uveeinei | and in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זִקְנֵ֥י | ziknei | [the] elders of | H2205 → | 178 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ ס | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיִּישַׁ֥רand it was pleasing
vaiyisharH3474 →
הַדָּבָ֖רthe word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
בְּעֵינֵ֣יin [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
אַבְשָׁלֹ֑םAbsalom
ʾavshalomH53 →110 times
וּבְעֵינֵ֖יand in [the] eyes of
uveeineiH5869 →887 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זִקְנֵ֥י[the] elders of
zikneiH2205 →178 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ סIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 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
Romans 1:32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
it leads to
- Romans 2:1–5
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
- Romans 1:21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- Romans 6:21
What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- Psalms 50:18
When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.
- Romans 1:18
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
- Romans 2:1–5
Through
Esther 5:14His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the…
it leads to
- Esther 6:4
“Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.
- Psalms 37:32
Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
- Esther 7:9–10
Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.”…
- Esther 6:4
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on 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 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).