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2 Samuel 18:8

in 2 Samuel 18

The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For the battle was there spread over the face of all the country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

KJV

For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 18

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The wood devoured more people - It is generally supposed that, when the army was broken, they betook themselves to the wood, fell into pits, swamps, etc., and, being entangled, were hewn down by David’s men; but the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, state that they were devoured by wild beasts in the wood.

This site's exposition

the battle was in the wood of Ephraim

on 2 Samuel 18:6-8

The two armies meet in the wood of Ephraim, and the fighting scatters across broken ground rather than holding one line. Twenty thousand of Absalom's men fall that day, and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured, a line the narrator states as plain fact rather than as ornament. Clarke notes that the Targum and other ancient versions read part of the loss as wild beasts in the forest rather than only pits and thickets, though the picture of a battlefield turned death trap by its own terrain stands either way.

This site's exposition

the forest devoured more people

Fighting spread across the whole countryside, and the forest took more lives than the sword. Albert Barnes thinks Absalom's army far outnumbered David's troops, and credits Joab with choosing ground where numbers counted for little. Absalom's body lies in a pit of that forest.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Apostolic Constitutions

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 6.1.2 · Written before 380.

proposed

Let us therefore, beloved, consider what sort of glory that of the seditious is, and what their condemnation [is]. For if he that rises up against kings is worthy of punishment, even though he is a son or a friend, how much more the one who rises up against the priests!

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

The battle was scattered - Probably Absalom’s forces were far more numerous than David’s; but, most likely by Joab’s skillful generalship, the field of battle was such that numbers did not tell, and David’s veteran troops were able to destroy Absalom’s rabble in detail. The wood entangled them, and was perhaps full of pits, precipices, and morasses 2Sa 18:17.

The words behind it

17 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.

  • וַתְּהִי־and it was

    vatehi-H1961 →3559 times

  • שָׁ֧םthere

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • הַמִּלְחָמָ֛הthe battle

    hamilchamahH4421 →320 times

  • נָפֹ֖צֶתscattered

    nafotzeitH6327 →67 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • פְּנֵ֣י[the] face of

    peneiH6440 →2123 times

  • כָל־all

    khol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָאָ֑רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וַיֶּ֤רֶבand it increased

    vaiyerevH7235 →227 times

  • הַיַּ֙עַר֙the forest

    haiyaarH3293 →59 times

  • לֶאֱכֹ֣לto consume

    leekholH398 →810 times

  • בָּעָ֔םamong the people

    baamH5971 →1873 times

  • מֵאֲשֶׁ֥רmore than [those] whom

    measherH834 →5497 times

  • אָכְלָ֛הit consumed

    ʾakhelahH398 →810 times

  • הַחֶ֖רֶבthe sword

    hacherevH2719 →413 times

  • בַּיּ֥וֹםon the day

    baiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַהֽוּא׃<the> that

    hahu'H1931 →1879 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.

Exodus 15:10But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.4 worksJoshua 10:11As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.3 worksPsalms 43:1Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.2 worksJudges 5:20–21From the heavens the stars fought; from their courses they fought against Sisera.2 worksPsalms 3:7Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.2 works1 Kings 20:30The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.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

    Psalms 3:7

    Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 58:6

      O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.

    • Job 29:17

      I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

    • Job 16:10

      They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.

    • Psalms 59:5

      O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah

    • Psalms 10:12

      Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless.

  • Through

    Psalms 43:1

    Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 35:1

      Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.

    • Psalms 7:8

      The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and integrity.

    • Psalms 26:1

      Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

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 on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 6.1.2 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in 2 Samuel 18 →