2 Samuel 19:8
in 2 Samuel 19So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” So they all came before the king. Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled, each man to his home.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king is sitting in the gate: and all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.
KJV
Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
David saw the justice of what Joab said, and the new danger which threatened him if he did not rouse himself from his grief. For Israel ... - Not David’s followers, but as before 2Sa 17:26; 2Sa 18:6, 2Sa 18:17, Absalom’s army.
This site's exposition
the king arose, and sat in the gate
David does exactly what Joab told him, taking the seat in the public gate where a king heard his people and rendered judgment. Israel's army had already scattered to their own tents, each man going home once Absalom was dead rather than standing by a cause with no one left to lead it. Barnes reads David's obedience to Joab's rebuke as proof that he saw the justice of it despite the manner it was delivered in.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Hither the people flocked to him to congratulate his and their safety, and all was well. Note, When we are convinced of a fault, we must amend, though we are told of it by our inferiors, and indecently, or in heat and passion.
Than the king arose, and sat in the gate,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the king arose, and sat in the gate--He appeared daily in the usual place for the hearing of causes. all the people came before the king--that is, the loyal natives who had been faithful to his government, and fought in his cause. Israel had fled--that is, the adherents of Absalom, who, on his defeat, had dispersed and saved themselves by flight.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The king - sat in the gate - The place where justice was administered to the people.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֥קָם | vaiyakom | and he arose | H6965 → | 628 times |
| הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב | vaiyeshev | and he sat | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בַּשָּׁ֑עַר | bashaar | in the gate | H8179 → | 374 times |
| וּֽלְכָל־ | ulekhol- | and to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֞ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הִגִּ֣ידוּ | higidu | people told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לֵאמֹ֗ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יוֹשֵׁ֣ב | yoshev | [is] sitting | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בַּשַּׁ֔עַר | bashaar | in the gate | H8179 → | 374 times |
| וַיָּבֹ֤א | vaiyavo' | and it came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | veyisrael | and Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נָ֖ס | nas | it had fled | H5127 → | 159 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לְאֹהָלָֽיו׃ ס | leohalav | to tents his | H168 → | 345 times |
וַיָּ֥קָםand he arose
vaiyakomH6965 →628 times
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
וַיֵּ֣שֶׁבand he sat
vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times
בַּשָּׁ֑עַרin the gate
bashaarH8179 →374 times
וּֽלְכָל־and to all
ulekhol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֞םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הִגִּ֣ידוּpeople told
higiduH5046 →370 times
לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּ֤הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
יוֹשֵׁ֣ב[is] sitting
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
בַּשַּׁ֔עַרin the gate
bashaarH8179 →374 times
וַיָּבֹ֤אand it came
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לand Israel
veyisraelH3478 →2507 times
נָ֖סit had fled
nasH5127 →159 times
אִ֥ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לְאֹהָלָֽיו׃ סto tents his
leohalavH168 →345 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
1 Kings 22:36As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”
it leads to
- 2 Kings 14:12
And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his home.
- 1 Kings 22:17
So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
- 1 Kings 12:16
When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your…
- 1 Kings 12:24
that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this word is from Me.’” So they…
- 1 Samuel 4:10
So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.
- 2 Kings 14:12
Through
2 Samuel 18:17They took Absalom, cast him into a large pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled, each to his home.
it leads to
- Joshua 8:29
He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the…
- Joshua 7:26
And they heaped over Achan a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. So the LORD turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this…
- Joshua 8:29
Through
2 Samuel 18:4“I will do whatever seems best to you,” the king replied. So he stood beside the gate, while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 18:24
Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall, looked out, and saw a man running alone.
- 2 Samuel 18:24
About 2 Samuel

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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
