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2 Samuel 18:13

in 2 Samuel 18

If I had jeopardized my own life—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have abandoned me.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Otherwise if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hid from the king), then thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.

KJV

Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 18

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
The man gives a remarkable incidental testimony to David’s sagacity and penetration (compare 2Sa 14:19), and to Joab’s known unscrupulousness.

This site's exposition

I saw Absalom hanged in an oak

on 2 Samuel 18:10-13

A soldier sees Absalom hanging and reports it to Joab, who asks why he did not strike him down on the spot for a reward of ten shekels of silver and a girdle. The man refuses outright: not for a thousand shekels would he raise his hand against the king's son, because he heard David's charge with his own ears and knows nothing stays hidden from the king. His answer holds the very order Joab is about to break, and the narrator lets an ordinary soldier state a loyalty the commander himself will not keep.

This site's exposition

nothing is hidden from the king

Albert Barnes hears in this aside a witness to David's sharp discernment, the same the wise woman of Tekoa met at 14:19. The soldier also knows Joab well enough to expect no protection from him. Adam Clarke notes that the appeal left Joab unmoved.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me - This is a strong appeal to Joab’s loyalty, and respect for the orders of David; but he was proof against every fine feeling, and against every generous sentiment.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Beware that none harm the young man. Everyone who meets up with him should preserve him.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 18:12:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
"I will not ask you [any further]." I will not make any more requests of you because I will go myself.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 18:14:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

13 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.

  • אֽוֹ־or

    ʾo-H176 →321 times

  • עָשִׂ֤יתִיI had done

    ʾasitiH6213 →2628 times

  • בְנַפְשִׁי֙on life my

    venafshiH5315 →754 times

  • שֶׁ֔קֶרfalsehood

    shekerH8267 →

  • וְכָל־and any

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • דָּבָ֖רthing

    davarH1697 →1440 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יִכָּחֵ֣דit is hidden

    yikachedH3582 →

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַמֶּ֑לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וְאַתָּ֖הand you

    veatahH859 →1094 times

  • תִּתְיַצֵּ֥בyou will stand

    tityatzevH3320 →48 times

  • מִנֶּֽגֶד׃from in front

    minegedH5048 →151 times

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

Related verses

5 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.

2 Samuel 14:19–20So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say.4 worksHebrews 4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.3 works2 Samuel 1:15–16Then David summoned one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him!” So the young man struck him down, and he died.2 works2 Samuel 4:10–12when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news!2 works1 Samuel 28:9But the woman replied, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why have you set a trap to get me killed?”2 works

The walk

5 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

    Hebrews 4:13

    Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 4:5

      Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each…

    • Psalms 33:13–15

      The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.

    • Proverbs 15:3

      The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.

    • Ecclesiastes 12:14

      For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

    • Jeremiah 17:10

      I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 2 Samuel

The Death of Absalom — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Absalom — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 18 →

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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in 2 Samuel 18 →