2 Samuel 17:20

20 When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? ” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook^[a] of water. ” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 17:20 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 17:20

And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house,
&c.] Who were sent after then, had intelligence which way they took, and into what house they turned:

they said, where [are] Ahimaaz and Jonathan?
calling them by their names, being persons well known, and as to them, so to the woman of the house, as they supposed:

and the woman said unto them, they be gone over the brook of water;
the river Jordan; so the Targum,

``they have already passed over Jordan;''

this was a lie she told them, which is not to be justified; the Vulgate Latin version,

``they passed over hastily, having drank a little water;''

and so Josephus ^F18 in some copies:

and when they had sought and could not find [them];
not only searched that house, but very probably others in Bahurim:

they returned to Jerusalem;
to give an account what success they had.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. Hudson. not. in ib.

2 Samuel 17:20 In-Context

18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it.

19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it.

20 When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? ” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook of water. ” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21 After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, “Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you. ”

22 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

Footnotes

• [a] 17:20 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain