2 Samuel 15:18

18 All his officials passed by him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king.

2 Samuel 15:18 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 15:18

And all his servants passed on beside him
Or at his hand or side; his household servants walking perhaps some on one side of him, and some on the other, see ( 2 Samuel 16:6 ) ;

and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites;
which were his bodyguards, see ( 2 Samuel 8:18 ) ;

and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath;
which either came with him from Gath, when he conquered that city, and took it out of the hands of the Philistines, ( 2 Samuel 8:1 ) ; compared with ( 1 Chronicles 18:1 ) ; and who might become proselytes, and be incorporated into the commonwealth of Israel, and into David's army, a troop of men, of which Ittai, after mentioned, was captain, ( 2 Samuel 15:22 ) ; or else these were Israelites, so called, because with David they sojourned in Gath a while, when he fled from Saul; and so Josephus F12 says, they were companions of him in his first flight, when Saul was living; and this number is just the number of the men that were with him at Gath, ( 1 Samuel 27:2 1 Samuel 27:3 ) ; and it may be David kept a troop of men always of the same number, to whom he gave this name in memory of them, having been a set of trusty and faithful men to him: these, with the Cherethites and Pelethites,

passed on before the king:
in this form and manner David and his men marched in their flight.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9.) sect. 2.

2 Samuel 15:18 In-Context

16 So the king left, followed by all his household, except ten concubines whom he left behind to look after the house.
17 The king left, followed by all the people; and they stopped at the last house.
18 All his officials passed by him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king.
19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why are you also coming with us? Go back, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile from your home.
20 You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, while I go wherever I can? Go back, and take your kinsfolk with you; and may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.