But a boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.
Parallel Translations
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But a boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.
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Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.
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But a lad saw them, and told Absalom; and they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down thither.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to 2 Samuel 17:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Samuel 3:16 Her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go! Return!” and he returned.
- 2 Samuel 16:5 When king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of Saul’s house came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out and cursed as he came.
- 2 Samuel 19:16 Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Sa 17:18 Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told…
2Sa 17:18 Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.
Ver. 18. Nevertheless a lad saw them.] As the devil never wanteth instruments in such cases to work mischief. Who this lad was, it mattereth not: but sure he was none of Absalom’s horsemen, as Josephus writeth.
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 A lad saw them, who knew them to be…
A lad saw them, who knew them to be favourers of David, and observed them to wait there upon design, and to gain intelligence, and possibly saw the wench speaking privately to them.
They went both of them away quickly; suspecting by this lad’s observation and carriage that they were discovered.
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Wither they went down; either to some hole in the side of the pit; or to the bottom of the pit, it being then dry, as pits often were in those hot countries. And this being in so open a place, they concluded none would imagine them to be hid there. And besides, they relied upon God’s good providence, which they knew watched over David, and them for his sake.
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 And the woman took and spread a covering over…
And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth,.... This woman, very probably, was the man's wife of the house, as Abarbinel notes; who took a cloth, and spread it over the well's mouth, that it could not be seen or known that there was a well there:
and spread ground corn thereon: just taken out of the mill, before it was sifted, while in the bran; or corn unhusked, or just threshed out, in order to be dried in the sun, and then parched; or wheat bruised for that purpose: Josephus says (q) they were locks of wool she spread:
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and the thing was not known; that the young men were in the well.
(q) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Sa 17:18-19. Nevertheless a lad saw them — Who…
2Sa 17:18-19. Nevertheless a lad saw them — Who knew them to be favourers of David, and observed that they waited there with design to gain intelligence, and possibly saw the girl speaking privately to them. But they went away quickly — Suspecting by the observation which the lad made, and his after conduct, that they were discovered. And came to a man’s house in Bahurim — Turning out of the public road, as Josephus explains it, they made haste to this village. Which had a well in his court, whither they went down — For at that time of the year their wells were in many places dry, or had little water in them. And spread ground corn thereon — Under pretence of drying it by the sun, which shows that it was summer- time. Thus the woman effectually concealed them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Bahurim - See the marginal reference. They were not…
Bahurim - See the marginal reference. They were not all Shimeis in Bahurim.
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 It, as it was level with the ground; so…
It, as it was level with the ground; so that a cloth being spread over it, prevented all suspicion. It had no water.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which…
and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court--The court was that of the house, and the well an empty cistern. All the houses of the better class are furnished with such reservoirs. Nothing could more easily happen than that one of these wells, in consequence of a deficiency of water, should become dry and it would then answer as a place of retreat, such as David's friends found in the man's house at Bahurim. The spreading of a covering over the well's mouth for the drying of corn is a common practice.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 18. a well] A cistern, dry at the time.…
18. a well] A cistern, dry at the time. The existence of numerous rock-cut cisterns with narrow mouths at Almît, the probable site of Bahurim, illustrates the incident. See Pal. Expl. Fund Quarterly Statement, Jan. 1881, p. 45.
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 lad saw them. Probably Absalom had sent out…
A lad saw them. Probably Absalom had sent out spies to watch the route which David had taken, to prevent any friends totaling him from the city, who would give him information as to the progress of events there. The word "lad" does not mean a boy; more probably he was one of the young men who formed Absalom"s body guard, like the ten "lads," translated "young men," in 2Sa_18:15, Who bare Joab"s armour. It Would be his duty to seize them, but when he tried to approach them, they fled, and made their way at full speed to Bahurim, where they were saved by the shrewdness and fidelity of a woman. Two such fleet runners would have had no difficulty in outstripping a boy, but one of Absalom"s young men would have roused the neighbourhood to join in the pursuit. The well in his court really signifies a cistern for storing rainwater; but it was at that time dry, and served as a convenient hiding place for the two messengers.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 17:18-20 Bahurim was the home of Shimei, the pro-Saul…
17:18-20 Bahurim was the home of Shimei, the pro-Saul Benjaminite (16:5; 19:16). Shimei’s cursing of David at Bahurim reflected David’s decline, while the escape of Ahimaaz and Jonathan pictured the hope of David’s resurgence.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.