2 Samuel 15:13-37

David Flees Jerusalem

13 Then a messenger came to David, saying, "¹The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom."

14 David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, "²Arise and let us flee, for otherwise none of us will escape from Absalom. Go in haste, or he will overtake us quickly and bring down calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword."

15 Then the king's servants said to the king, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever * my lord the king chooses."

16 So the king went out and all his household with him. But ³the king left ten concubines to keep the house.

17 The king went out and all the people with him, and they stopped at the last house.

18 Now all his servants passed on beside * him, ⁴all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites and all the Gittites, ⁵six hundred men who had come with him from Gath, passed on before the king.

19 Then the king said to ⁶Ittai the Gittite, "Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place.

20 "You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander with us, while ⁷I go where * I will? Return and take back your brothers; ⁸mercy and truth be with you."

21 But Ittai answered the king and said, "As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely * ⁹wherever * * my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be."

22 Therefore David said to Ittai, "Go and pass over." So Ittai the Gittite passed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

23 While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people passed over. The king also passed over ¹⁰the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward * ¹¹the way of the wilderness.

24 Now behold, ¹²Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him ¹³carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and ¹⁴Abiathar came up until all the people had finished passing from the city.

25 The king said to Zadok, "Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of the LORD, then ¹⁵He will bring me back again and show me both it and ¹⁶His habitation.

26 "But if He should say thus, '¹⁷I have no delight in you,' behold, here I am, ¹⁸let Him do to me as seems good to Him."

27 The king said also to Zadok the priest, "Are you not ¹⁹a seer? Return to the city in peace and your ²⁰two sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

28 "See, I am going to wait ²¹at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me."

29 Therefore Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and remained there.

30 And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and ²²his head was covered and he walked ²³barefoot. Then all the people who were with him each covered his head and went up weeping as they went.

31 Now someone told David, saying, "²⁴Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." And David said, "O LORD, I pray, ²⁵make the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness."

32 It happened as David was coming to the summit, where * God was worshiped, that behold, Hushai the ²⁶Archite met him with his coat torn and dust on his head.

33 David said to him, "If you pass over with me, then you will be ²⁷a burden to me.

34 "But if you return to the city, and ²⁸say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so I will now be your servant,' then you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me.

35 "Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So it shall be that ²⁹whatever * * you hear from the king's house, you shall report to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

36 "Behold ³⁰their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son and Jonathan, Abiathar's son; and ³¹by them you shall send me everything that you hear."

37 So Hushai, ³²David's friend, came into the city, and ³³Absalom came into Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 15:13-37 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 15

This chapter relates how that Absalom by various artful methods stole away the hearts of the people of Israel, 2Sa 15:1-6; that pretending a vow he had made, he got leave of the king to go to Hebron to perform it, 2Sa 15:7-9; where he formed a considerable conspiracy, 2Sa 15:10-12; of which David having information, thought it advisable to depart from Jerusalem, both for his own safety, and the good of the city, which he did with his family, and guards, and much people, 2Sa 15:13-18; though he would have persuaded Ittai the Gittite to have returned, but could not prevail upon him, 2Sa 15:19-23; however, he sent back the priests and the Levites with the ark, lest any harm should come to that, 2Sa 15:24-29; and as he and the people went up the mount of Olives weeping, it was told him that Ahithophel was among the conspirators, on which he put up a prayer that his counsel might be infatuated, 2Sa 15:30,31; and Hushai the Archite coming to him at that juncture, he sent him back to Jerusalem to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, and to send him word by the priests what he should hear there from time to time, 2Sa 15:32-37.

Cross References

• 1. Judges 9:3; 2 Samuel 15:6
• 2. 2 Samuel 12:11; Ps 3: title
• 3. 2 Samuel 16:21, 22
• 4. 2 Samuel 8:18
• 5. 1 Samuel 23:13; 1 Samuel 25:13; 1 Samuel 30:1, 9
• 6. 2 Samuel 18:2
• 7. 1 Samuel 23:13
• 8. 2 Samuel 2:6
• 9. Ruth 1:16, 17; Proverbs 17:17
• 10. 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chronicles 29:16
• 11. 2 Samuel 15:28; 2 Samuel 16:2
• 12. 2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Samuel 20:25
• 13. Numbers 4:15; 1 Samuel 4:4, 5
• 14. 1 Samuel 22:20
• 15. Psalms 43:3
• 16. Exodus 15:13; Jeremiah 25:30
• 17. 2 Samuel 11:27; 1 Chronicles 21:7
• 18. 1 Samuel 3:18
• 19. 1 Samuel 9:6-9
• 20. 2 Samuel 17:17
• 21. Joshua 5:10; 2 Samuel 17:16
• 22. Esther 6:12; Ezekiel 24:17, 23
• 23. Isaiah 20:2-4
• 24. 2 Samuel 15:12
• 25. 2 Samuel 16:23; 2 Samuel 17:14, 23
• 26. Joshua 16:2
• 27. 2 Samuel 19:35
• 28. 2 Samuel 16:19
• 29. 2 Samuel 17:15, 16
• 30. 2 Samuel 15:27
• 31. 2 Samuel 17:17
• 32. 2 Samuel 16:16; 1 Chronicles 27:33
• 33. 2 Samuel 16:15

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "after"
• [b]. Lit "at his feet"
• [c]. Lit "at his feet"
• [d]. Lit "at his feet"
• [e]. Or "faithfulness"
• [f]. Lit "in His sight"
• [g]. Or "tunic"
• [h]. Lit "ground"