2 Samuel 18:11

11 "You just saw [him]!" Joab exclaimed.^[a] "Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you 10 silver pieces^[b] and a belt!"

2 Samuel 18:11 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 18:11

And Joab said unto the man that told him
That gave the above account of him:

and, behold, thou sawest [him];
in reality; or, "didst thou see him?" is it a fact?

and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground;
kill him on the spot, that he might have dropped from the tree to the ground:

and I would have given thee ten [shekels] of silver;
on the news of it, for doing it, which was near twenty four shillings of our money; Josephus says ^F9 fifty shekels; the Arabic version has it ten thousand talents of silver, too great a sum by far:

and a girdle?
which was a mark of great honour, and a token of a commission under him, and of investing: him with a military office; see ( 1 Samuel 18:4 ) ; it used to be given as an honorary reward to soldiers that behaved well, as on the contrary it was reckoned a reproach to be ungirt, or the girdle to be taken away ^F11.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 10. sect. 2.)
F11 Vide Lydium de re militare, l. 3. c. 6.

2 Samuel 18:11 In-Context

9 Absalom was riding on his mule when he happened to meet David's soldiers. When the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree, Absalom's head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so he was suspended in midair.

10 One of the men saw [him] and informed Joab. He said, "I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!"

11 "You just saw [him]!" Joab exclaimed. "Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you 10 silver pieces and a belt!"

12 The man replied to Joab, "Even if I had the weight of 1,000 pieces of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king's son. For we heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, 'Protect the young man Absalom for me.'

13 If I had jeopardized my own life-and nothing is hidden from the king-you would have abandoned me."

Footnotes

• [a] Lit Joab said to the man who told him
• [b] c. 4 ounces