2 Samuel 3:16
in 2 Samuel 3Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he returned home.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return: and he returned.
KJV
And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd her husband went with her along weeping behind her,.... Because of his great affection to her, unwilling to part with her, but forced to it at the command of the king her brother: to Bahurim; a city in the tribe of Benjamin, 2Sa 19:16; perhaps the same with Almon, Jos 21:18; these two words being of the same signification; and the Targum has it hero Almuth; so Alemeth in 1Ch 6:60. It seems to be the same Josephus (c) calls Bachures, and says it was not far from Jerusalem.
This site's exposition
took her from her husband
on 2 Samuel 3:15-16
Ish-bosheth strips Michal from Phaltiel, the man Saul gave her to at 1 Samuel 25:44 while David was still in exile, and the narrator lets Phaltiel's grief stand without comment, following her weeping to Bahurim until Abner's one word ends it. Barnes reads David's legal right as intact since no divorce had passed between them, but the verse itself withholds any word from David or Michal about the reunion, an ordinary man's sorrow given more space in the text than the king's.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), but there was no remedy: he must thank himself; for when he took her he knew that another had a right to her. Usurpers must expect to resign. Let no man therefore set his heart on that to which he is not entitled.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Weeping behind her - If genuine affection did not still subsist between David and Michal, it was a pity to have taken her from Phaltiel, who had her to wife from the conjoint authority of her father and her king. Nevertheless David had a legal right to her, as she had never been divorced, for she was taken from him by the hand of violence.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Bahurim - Best known as the residence of Shimei, and as the place where Jonathan and Ahimaaz were concealed in a well on the occasion of David’s flight from Absalom 2Sa 16:5; 2Sa 17:18. It seems to have been situated in the southern border of the tribe of Benjamin, and on the route from Jerusalem to the Jordan fords, since Phaltiel came from Mahanaim 2Sa 2:8.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Following and crying. Over the good deed [about to be] leaving him because all those years he thrust a sword into the bed [separating] between him and her and he did not stumble [into sinful intimacy] with her.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
From [her] man. Yonasan translated "from the company of her husband."
And the word of Avner was [sent] Before this [incident with Paltiel]
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֨לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אִתָּ֜הּ | ʾitah | with her | H854 → | 929 times |
| אִישָׁ֗הּ | ʾishah | husband her | H376 → | 1663 times |
| הָל֧וֹךְ | halokh | going | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וּבָכֹ֛ה | uvakhoh | and weeping | H1058 → | 114 times |
| אַחֲרֶ֖יהָ | ʾachareiha | after her | H310 → | 715 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בַּֽחֻרִ֑ים | bachurim | Bahurim | H980 → | 5 times |
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָ֥יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַבְנֵ֛ר | ʾavner | Abner | H74 → | 63 times |
| לֵ֥ךְ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| שׁ֖וּב | shuv | return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וַיָּשֹֽׁב׃ | vaiyasho | and he returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
וַיֵּ֨לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
אִתָּ֜הּwith her
ʾitahH854 →929 times
אִישָׁ֗הּhusband her
ʾishahH376 →1663 times
הָל֧וֹךְgoing
halokhH1980 →1546 times
וּבָכֹ֛הand weeping
uvakhohH1058 →114 times
אַחֲרֶ֖יהָafter her
ʾachareihaH310 →715 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בַּֽחֻרִ֑יםBahurim
bachurimH980 →5 times
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלָ֥יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
אַבְנֵ֛רAbner
ʾavnerH74 →63 times
לֵ֥ךְgo
lekhH1980 →1546 times
שׁ֖וּבreturn
shuvH7725 →1056 times
וַיָּשֹֽׁב׃and he returned
vaiyashoH7725 →1056 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 16:5As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:36–46
Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 17:43
“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- 1 Kings 2:8–9
Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he…
- Exodus 22:28
You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.
- 1 Kings 2:36–46
Through
1 Kings 2:8Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 16:5–8
As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out…
- 2 Samuel 16:5–8
Through
2 Samuel 19:16Then Shimei son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David,
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:8
Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he…
- 2 Samuel 16:5–13
As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out…
- 1 Kings 2:8
Through
2 Samuel 17:18But a young man did see them and told Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 16:5
As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out…
- 2 Samuel 16:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Samuel
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.