2 Samuel 20:11
in 2 Samuel 20One of Joab’s young men stood near Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there stood by him one of Joab’s young men, and said, He that favoreth Joab, and he that is for David, let him follow Joab.
KJV
And one of Joab’s men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He that favoreth Joab ... - This speech, addressed to Amasa’s followers as well as Joab’s, shows very distinctly that the rivalry between Joab and Amasa, and David’s purpose to make Amasa captain in Joab’s room, were well known; and shows also the real reason why Joab killed Amasa. What is added, “and he that is for David,” was intended to identify Joab’s cause with David’s, and also to insinuate that Amasa had not been loyal to David (2Sa 20:5 note).
This site's exposition
he that is for David, let him go after Joab
on 2 Samuel 20:11-13
One of Joab's men turns the murder into a loyalty test on the spot, pairing Joab's name with David's so that following Joab reads as following the king. Amasa's own body still lies in the highway, and the army stops in its tracks at the sight until someone drags him into a field and throws a cloth over him. Only once the corpse is out of view does the column move again, all of Amasa's newly gathered men included, after the man who killed him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But one would wonder with what face a murderer could pursue a traitor; and how, under such a heavy load of guilt, he had courage to enter upon danger. Surely his conscience was seared with a hot iron. Care is taken to remove the dead body out of the way, because at that they made a stand (as ch. ii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And one of Joab's men stood by him,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A soldier conjoined his name with David's, and such a magic spell was in the word "Joab," that all the people "went on"--Amasa's men as well as the rest. The conjunction of these two names is very significant.
He that favoureth Joab - As if he had said, There is now no other commander besides Joab; and Joab is steadily attached to David: let those therefore who are loyal follow Joab.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
When he saw that all who passed by it remained there. When the man saw that everyone who passed by it would remain there.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִישׁ֙ | veish | and a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| עָמַ֣ד | ʾamad | he stood | H5975 → | 521 times |
| עָלָ֔יו | ʾalav | over him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִֽנַּעֲרֵ֖י | minaarei | one of [the] young men of | H5288 → | 239 times |
| יוֹאָ֑ב | yoav | Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מִי֩ | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | [is [the] one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חָפֵ֧ץ | chafetz | he delights | H2654 → | 74 times |
| בְּיוֹאָ֛ב | beyoav | in Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
| וּמִ֥י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [is [the] one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לְדָוִ֖ד | ledavid | [belongs] to David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֥י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| יוֹאָֽב׃ | yoav | Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
וְאִישׁ֙and a man
veishH376 →1663 times
עָמַ֣דhe stood
ʾamadH5975 →521 times
עָלָ֔יוover him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
מִֽנַּעֲרֵ֖יone of [the] young men of
minaareiH5288 →239 times
יוֹאָ֑בJoab
yoavH3097 →144 times
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מִי֩who?
miH4310 →423 times
אֲשֶׁ֨ר[is [the] one] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
חָפֵ֧ץhe delights
chafetzH2654 →74 times
בְּיוֹאָ֛בin Joab
beyoavH3097 →144 times
וּמִ֥יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
אֲשֶׁר־[is [the] one] who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
לְדָוִ֖ד[belongs] to David
ledavidH1732 →999 times
אַחֲרֵ֥יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
יוֹאָֽב׃Joab
yoavH3097 →144 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
2 Samuel 20:4Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 19:13
And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from this time you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”
- 2 Samuel 17:25
Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah…
- 2 Samuel 19:13
Through
2 Kings 9:32He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 11:12
He also put shields and spears in all the cities and strengthened them greatly. So Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.
- Psalms 118:6
The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Esther 2:15
Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask…
- Psalms 124:1–2
If the LORD had not been on our side— let Israel now declare—
- Acts 12:20
Now Herod was in a furious dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their…
- 2 Chronicles 11:12
Through
2 Samuel 20:13As soon as Amasa’s body was removed from the road, all the men went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
it leads to
- Judges 21:19
“But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
- Judges 21:19
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.