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2 Samuel 18:22

in 2 Samuel 18

Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “Regardless of whatever may happen, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” “My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But come what may, let me, I pray thee, also run after the Cushite. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou wilt have no reward for the tidings?

KJV

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?

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This verse in 2 Samuel 18

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

the Lord hath avenged him of his enemies

on 2 Samuel 18:19-23

Ahimaaz asks to be the one who carries word that the Lord hath avenged him of his enemies, and Joab refuses him because the king's son is dead, sending Cushi instead to tell the king what he has seen. Ahimaaz asks a second time to run after Cushi and Joab lets him go, though he warns him he has no news ready to tell; Ahimaaz takes the way of the plain and outruns Cushi, who has kept to the harder road through the hills. Barnes reads Cushi as a foreign slave, a man Joab did not scruple to send first into whatever anger the news might draw down on the one who carries it.

This site's exposition

you will not receive a reward

Matthew Henry weighs two motives for Ahimaaz's persistence. He may have been proud of his speed, or he may have meant to prepare David gently before the Cushite's plain report arrived. Joab addresses him as a son, which softens the refusal.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

No great praise for a priest to be swift of foot, yet perhaps Ahimaaz was proud of it. (2.) Perhaps it was in prudence and tenderness to the king that he desired it. He knew he could get before Cushi, and therefore was willing to prepare the king, by a vague and general report, for the plain truth which Cushi was ordered to tell him.

The words behind it

27 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨סֶףand he repeated

    vaiyosefH3254 →212 times

  • ע֜וֹדagain

    odH5750 →490 times

  • אֲחִימַ֤עַץAhimaaz

    ʾachimaatzH290 →15 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • צָדוֹק֙Zadok

    tzadokH6659 →53 times

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יוֹאָ֔בJoab

    yoavH3097 →144 times

  • וִ֣יהִיand may it be

    vihiH1961 →3559 times

  • מָ֔הwhatever

    mahH4100 →752 times

  • אָרֻֽצָה־let me run

    ʾarutzah-H7323 →103 times

  • נָּ֥אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • גַם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • אָ֖נִיI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֣יafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • הַכּוּשִׁ֑יthe Cushite

    hakushiH3569 →26 times

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יוֹאָ֗בJoab

    yoavH3097 →144 times

  • לָֽמָּה־<to> why?

    lamah-H4100 →752 times

  • זֶּ֞הthis

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • אַתָּ֥ה[are] you

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • רָץ֙running

    ratzH7323 →103 times

  • בְּנִ֔יO son my

    beniH1121 →4930 times

  • וּלְכָ֖הand [will belong] to <the> you

    ulekhah

  • אֵין־not

    ʾein-H369 →789 times

  • בְּשׂוֹרָ֥הgood news

    besorahH1309 →6 times

  • מֹצֵֽאת׃finding

    motzetH4672 →455 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 18:29The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was.”3 worksEphesians 5:4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.2 worksRomans 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.2 works1 Chronicles 6:8Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz,2 works1 Samuel 3:6Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”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

    Romans 1:28

    Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

    it leads to

    • 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12

      and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

    • Titus 1:16

      They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

    • 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.

    • Jeremiah 9:6

      You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.

    • Romans 1:24

      Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

  • Through

    Ephesians 5:4

    Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

    it leads to

    • Colossians 3:8

      But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

    • Ephesians 4:29

      Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:18

      Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

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 Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 18 →