Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

2 Samuel 19:4

in 2 Samuel 19

But the king covered his face and cried out at the top of his voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

KJV

But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

⋯

This verse in 2 Samuel 19

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The king covered his face - This was the custom of mourners. O my son Absalom - Calmet has properly remarked that the frequent repetition of the name of the defunct, is common in the language of lamentation. Thus Virgil, act. v., ver. 51: - - Daphnin que team tollemus ad astra; Daphnin ad astra feremus: amavit nos quoque Daphnis. “With yours, my song I cheerfully shall join, To raise your Daphnis to the powers Divine.

This site's exposition

O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son

David covers his face and repeats his son's name, a lament pattern the older commentators call the plainest cry of grief in Scripture. He never speaks Absalom's name without the possessive my son, holding the office of father through the ruin the son made of himself and of the kingdom. Clarke and Henry both weigh the mourning as excessive given what Absalom had done, yet neither dismisses a father's loss as a small thing.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

"My servants have all come home safe, but where is my son? He is dead; and, dying in sin, I fear he is lost for ever. I cannot now say, I shall go to him, for my soul shall not be gathered with such sinners; what shall be done for thee, O Absalom! my son, my son! " 2.

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.

  • וְהַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙and the king

    vehamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • לָאַ֣טhe covered

    laatH3813 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • פָּנָ֔יוface his

    panavH6440 →2123 times

  • וַיִּזְעַ֥קand he cried out

    vaiyizakH2199 →73 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • ק֣וֹלa voice

    kolH6963 →506 times

  • גָּד֑וֹלgreat

    gadolH1419 →526 times

  • בְּנִי֙O son my

    beniH1121 →4930 times

  • אַבְשָׁל֔וֹםAbsalom

    ʾavshalomH53 →110 times

  • אַבְשָׁל֖וֹםAbsalom

    ʾavshalomH53 →110 times

  • בְּנִ֥יson my

    beniH1121 →4930 times

  • בְנִֽי׃ סson my

    veniH1121 →4930 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.

2 Samuel 18:33The king was shaken and went up to the gate chamber and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”8 works2 Samuel 15:30But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.4 works2 Samuel 14:1Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart longed for Absalom.2 worksJeremiah 14:3The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.2 worksJob 9:24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?2 works1 Corinthians 11:4Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.1 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

    2 Samuel 15:30

    But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up,…

    it leads to

    • Esther 6:12

      Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.

    • Luke 19:41

      As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it

    • Luke 22:39

      Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him.

    • Zechariah 14:4

      On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with…

  • Through

    2 Samuel 18:33

    The king was shaken and went up to the gate chamber and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died…

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 17:25

      A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

    • 2 Samuel 12:10–23

      Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

    • Proverbs 10:1

      The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

    • Psalms 103:13

      As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
David Mourns the Death of Absalom — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 19 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 19 →