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2 Samuel 19:8

in 2 Samuel 19

So 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.

This verse in 2 Samuel 19

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
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

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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 & Brown

1802–1910

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

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The king - sat in the gate - The place where justice was administered to the people.

The words behind it

21 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.

  • וַיָּ֥קָםand he arose

    vaiyakomH6965628 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • וַיֵּ֣שֶׁבand he sat

    vaiyeshevH34271079 times

  • בַּשָּׁ֑עַרin the gate

    bashaarH8179374 times

  • וּֽלְכָל־and to all

    ulekhol-H36055413 times

  • הָעָ֞םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • הִגִּ֣ידוּpeople told

    higiduH5046370 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH5595305 times

  • הִנֵּ֤הhere!

    hinehH2009843 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • יוֹשֵׁ֣ב[is] sitting

    yoshevH34271079 times

  • בַּשַּׁ֔עַרin the gate

    bashaarH8179374 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֤אand it came

    vaiyavo'H9352568 times

  • כָל־all

    khol-H36055413 times

  • הָעָם֙the people

    haamH59711873 times

  • לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before

    lifneiH64402123 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • וְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לand Israel

    veyisraelH34782507 times

  • נָ֖סit had fled

    nasH5127159 times

  • אִ֥ישׁeach

    ʾishH3761663 times

  • לְאֹהָלָֽיו׃ סto tents his

    leohalavH168345 times

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

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

    1 Kings 22:36

    As 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.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 18:17

    They 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…

  • 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.

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

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.