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2 Samuel 3:38

in 2 Samuel 3

Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great prince has fallen today in Israel?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?

KJV

And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?

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This verse in 2 Samuel 3

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

If he could be brought to do it sincerely, it would be an expression of repentance for his sin in slaying him. If he did it in show only, as it is likely he did, yet it was a sort of penance imposed upon him, and a present commutation of the punishment. If he do not as yet expiate the murder with his blood, let him do something towards it with tears.

This site's exposition

a prince and a great man fallen

David's word to his own servants names what the murder cost Israel rather than only what it cost him: a prince and a great man, the very general whose defection had been about to hand him every remaining tribe without a further battle. Henry reads the line as David's own grief speaking honestly, weighing what Abner's life was worth to the kingdom now that it is gone.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

David's Wives and Children. 1 Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. 2 And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:92%@v1-3

And the king said unto his servants,....

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.

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • עֲבָדָ֑יוservants his

    ʾavadavH5650 →799 times

  • הֲל֣וֹא¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תֵדְע֔וּdo you know

    tedeuH3045 →945 times

  • כִּי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • שַׂ֣רa leader

    sarH8269 →421 times

  • וְגָד֗וֹלand a great [man]

    vegadolH1419 →526 times

  • נָפַ֛לhe has fallen

    nafalH5307 →435 times

  • הַיּ֥וֹםthe day

    haiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃in Israel

    beyisraelH3478 →2507 times

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

Related verses

4 in all, six open

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

    Job 32:9

    It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 11:25

      At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

    • Job 12:20

      He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.

    • Ecclesiastes 4:13

      Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.

    • 1 Corinthians 1:26–27

      Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.

    • 1 Corinthians 2:7–8

      No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 2:8

    Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, moved him to Mahanaim,

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 14:50

      His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Saul’s uncle Ner.

    • Genesis 32:2

      When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 3:12

    Then Abner sent messengers in his place to say to David, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel…

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 12:38–40

      All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 3 →

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 3 →