2 Samuel 19:8

8 And the king riseth, and sitteth in the gate, and to all the people they have declared, saying, `Lo, the king is sitting in the gate;' and all the people come in before the king, and Israel hath fled, each to his tents.

2 Samuel 19:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 19:8

Than the king arose, and sat in the gate
Of the city, a public place, where the inhabitants met on divers accounts at times, and where there were always people passing and repassing:

and they told unto all the people;
or it was reported to the soldiers particularly:

saying, behold the king doth sit in the gate;
has laid aside his mourning, appears in public, and receives his friends, and attends to business:

and all the people came before the king;
to congratulate him on the victory obtained, to receive his thanks and his favours:

for Israel had fled every man to his tent:
or to his city, as the Targum; that is, those that followed Absalom; which is observed not on account of what goes before, but of what follows after; see ( 2 Samuel 18:17 ) .

2 Samuel 19:8 In-Context

6 to love thine enemies, and to hate those loving thee, for thou hast declared to-day that thou hast no princes and servants, for I have known to-day that if Absalom [were] alive, and all of us to-day dead, that then it were right in thine eyes.

7 `And now, rise, go out and speak unto the heart of thy servants, for by Jehovah I have sworn, that -- thou art not going out -- there doth not lodge a man with thee to-night; and this [is] worse for thee than all the evil that hath come upon thee from thy youth till now.'

8 And the king riseth, and sitteth in the gate, and to all the people they have declared, saying, `Lo, the king is sitting in the gate;' and all the people come in before the king, and Israel hath fled, each to his tents.

9 And it cometh to pass, all the people are contending through all the tribes of Israel, saying, `The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, yea, he himself delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he hath fled out of the land because of Absalom,

10 and Absalom whom we anointed over us [is] dead in battle, and now, why are ye silent -- to bring back the king?'