Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.”
Parallel Translations
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Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.”
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Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.
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Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may? return thou, and take back thy brethren with thee in kindness and truth.'
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to 2 Samuel 15:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 23:13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. Saul was told that David was escaped from Keilah; and he gave up going there.
- 2 Samuel 2:6 Now may Yahweh show loving kindness and truth to you. I also will reward you for this kindness, because you have done this thing.
- John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 11:37-38 They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
- Psalms 25:10 All the paths of Yahweh are loving kindness and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
- Psalms 56:8 You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?
- Psalms 57:3 He will send from heaven, and save me, he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.
- Psalms 59:15 They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if they aren’t satisfied.
- Psalms 61:7 He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever. Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.
- Psalms 85:10 Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
- Psalms 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face.
- Proverbs 14:22 Don’t they go astray who plot evil? But love and faithfulness belong to those who plan good.
- Amos 8:12 They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek Yahweh’s word, and will not find it.
- 2 Timothy 1:16-18 May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently and found me (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain God require thee thy friendship and fidelity.
God require thee thy friendship and fidelity.
Meaning, them of his family.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Sa 15:20 Whereas thou camest [but] yesterday, should I…
2Sa 15:20 Whereas thou camest [but] yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth [be] with thee.
Ver. 20. Should I this day make thee go up and down with us?] David had need enough of him; but yet would not do anything that had but a show of unwarrantableness in it.
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Mercy and truth be with thee.] Mercy, the fruit of God’s faithfulness, covenant kindness. See Psa 25:10. So Paul prayeth for Onesiphorus. {2Ti 1:18} And such prayers could not be ineffectual; for God will gratify his afflicted; {Zec 13:9} they may have even what they will of him.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thou camest but yesterday; by which it may be…
Thou camest but yesterday; by which it may be gathered that these were not the Israelitish soldiers which went with David to Gath, and came up with him from thence to Hebron, which was above thirty years before this time, but some proselytes which came from thence more lately. For though this word
yesterday be sometimes used of a time long before past, as 2Ki 9:26; Job 8:9; Isa 30:33; yet it seems to be here restrained to a shorter compass by the following words, and by the argument here used.
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Go whither I may; I know not whither; having now no certain dwelling-place.
Thy brethren; thy countrymen and soldiers the Gittites, 2Sa 15:18.
Mercy and truth be with thee; since I am now unable to recompense thy kindness and fidelity to me, my hearty prayer to God is, that he would show to thee his mercy, in blessing thee with all sorts of blessings, and his faithfulness, in making good all those promises which he hath made, not to Israelites only, but in and with them to all true-hearted proselytes, such as thou art.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Whereas thou camest but yesterday,.... From Gath, or from…
Whereas thou camest but yesterday,.... From Gath, or from an expedition he and his men had been on:
should I this day make thee, go up and down with us? wander up and down from place to place with David, when he was but just come off a journey, weary and fatigued:
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seeing I go whither I may; where it will be most safe for me, I know not where; may be obliged to flee here and there, which would be very inconvenient to Ittai in his circumstances:
return thou, and take back thy brethren; the six hundred men under him, and whom David could ill spare at this time, and yet, consulting their ease, advises to return to Jerusalem with them:
mercy and truth be with thee; the Lord show mercy and kindness to thee, in that thou hast shown favour and respect to me, and make good all his promises to thee, who hast been true and faithful to me.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Brethren - Thy countrymen the Gittites, ver. 18. Mercy,…
Brethren - Thy countrymen the Gittites, ver. 18. Mercy, &c. - Since I am now unable to recompense thy kindness and fidelity to me, my hearty prayer to God is, that he would shew to thee his mercy, in blessing thee with all sorts of blessings, and his faithfulness in making good all these promises which he had made, not to Israelites only, but to all true hearted proselytes, such as thou art.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Mercy and truth be with thee.] May…
Verse 20. Mercy and truth be with thee.] May God ever show thee mercy, as thou showest it to me, and his truth ever preserve thee from error and delusion!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thou camest but yesterday - Meaning, “Thou art not…
Thou camest but yesterday - Meaning, “Thou art not a native Israelite, but only a sojourner for a few years, it is not reason therefore that thou shouldst share my calamities. Return to thy place, thy adopted home Jerusalem, and to the king, Absalom” 2Sa 15:34-35.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The Lord. Hebrew, "mercy and truth with thee." As…
The Lord. Hebrew, "mercy and truth with thee." As thou hast acted towards me, so mayest thou be rewarded. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. Take back thy brethren — These brethren are…
20. Take back thy brethren — These brethren are not to be regarded as identical with the six hundred Gittites mentioned above, but as a number of Ittai’s fellow-exiles, and perhaps blood relatives, who had been forced to leave their country for some cause now unknown.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. I go whither I may] Not knowing where…
20. I go whither I may] Not knowing where he might find a home, as in the old days of his flight from Saul. Cp. 1Sa_23:13.
take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee] The Hebrew as it stands must be rendered: take back thy brethren with thee in mercy and truth: but the true text is probably preserved by the Sept. and Vulg. Take back thy brethren with thee: and the Lord shew thee [or, shall shew thee] mercy and truth: to which some texts of the Vulg. add: because thou hast shewn kindness and faithfulness. Cp. ch. 2Sa_2:5-6.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A farewell blessing.
A farewell blessing.
and truth be with thee." Times of adversity are testing times. They try and make manifest the character both of the sufferer and of his friends. The base and the noble in men, their selfishness and their disinterestedness, their faithlessness and their fidelity, are revealed and heightened. David never appeared in better light (in all but, perhaps, courage) than at the fearful crisis when his son was usurping his throne and ready to take his life, and he himself became for a time an exile from home and metropolis and sanctuary; and while some of his servants made manifest their inherent baseness, the virtues of others shone forth in new lustre. The conversation between David and Ittai illustrates these remarks. It is a contest of nobleness, in which both appear to great advantage. The words of the text were intended by David as a farewell Ittai would not, however, accept them as such, but persisted in accompanying him whithersoever he might go. They contain a prayer suitable for all in addressing their friends in parting, or indeed at any time. "Mercy and truth" are, of course, those of God. "May God exercise towards thee his mercy and truth.
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I "MERCY:" HERE EQUIVALENT TO GRACE, KINDNESS, LOVE. Man is entirely dependent on the kindness of God both as a creature and as a sinner. All in some degree are its objects; but in desiring that it may be with any, we wish that they may enjoy it to the fullest extent, both in body and soul, in time and in eternity. It thus includes all manifestations and exercises of Divine grace.
1. Providential.
2. Pardoning.
3. Sanctifying.
4. Defending and preserving.
5. Comforting and gladdening.
6. Eternally saving.
II "TRUTH:" EQUIVALENT TO TRUTHFULNESS, FAITHFULNESS. That perfection of the Divine nature which assures us that God will ever act in a manner true to himself as be reveals himself in his Word, and to the promises he has given us. In desiring that the truth of God may be with any, We pray that they may to the fullest extent experience how trustworthy are the revelations he has made of himself, how faithfully his promises are fulfilled, how happy they are who confide in him.
III THE "MERCY AND TRUTH" OF GOD ARE OFTEN PRESENTED TOGETHER IN THE HOLY WRITINGS, ESPECIALLY IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS. They exhibit the two aspects of the nature of God with which we are chiefly concerned; and, taken comprehensively, include his whole moral character. To desire, therefore, that they may be with any one is to pray that God may be with him in the fulness of his Being, as his God; that he may experience for himself all that he can be to one of his creatures his kindness in the utmost meaning of his faithful representations; his truth, not in the accomplishment of his threatenings, but in the amplest fulfilment of his gracious promises.
IV THESE DIVINE PERFECTIONS ARE "WITH US" WHEN THEY ARE EXERCISED FOR OUR GOOD. This often takes place when they are not present to our consciousness. But the highest blessedness is to enjoy their exercise in the full consciousness that it is the "mercy and truth" of God that are blessing our lives. The crowning bliss is to enjoy their uninterrupted exercise towards us, and that forever.
V FOR TO HAVE GOD"S "MERCY AND TRUTH" WITH US IS TO ENJOY ALL REAL GOOD, AND TO BE SURE OF ITS ENJOYMENT FOREVER. Hence these words express all that the wisest, kindest, and best can address to their friends in parting with them, or on birthdays, new year"s days, etc. We cannot be so certain, that we are pronouncing a blessing on them when we wish them health, wealth, long life, abundance of friends, etc.
VI ONE OF THE BEST EFFECTS OF GOD"S "MERCY AND TRUTH" is to produce their own likeness in those with whom they dwell, making them kind and loving, true and faithful. The possession and cultivation of these qualities are a necessary part of the evidence that we have savingly experienced the Divine grace and faithfulness, and a necessary condition of our continuing to enjoy them. G.W. (see Pro_3:3, Pro_3:4)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.