2 Samuel 18:23

23 "{Come what may}, I want to run." He said to him, "Run," so Ahimaaz ran on the road on the plain, and he passed the Cushite.

2 Samuel 18:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 18:23

But howsoever ([said he]) let me run
Be it as it may, I beg I may have leave; and being so very importunate, it was granted:

and he said unto him, run;
since he would take no denial:

then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi;
who ran by the way of the mountains; which though the shorter way, that through the plain was easiest, and soonest run, though the longest.

2 Samuel 18:23 In-Context

21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen"; then the Cushite bowed down to Joab and ran [off].

22 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again said to Joab, "{Come what may}, please let me also run after the Cushite." Joab asked, "Why [are] you wanting to run, my son, when for you there is no {messenger's reward}?"

23 "{Come what may}, I want to run." He said to him, "Run," so Ahimaaz ran on the road on the plain, and he passed the Cushite.

24 Now David [was] sitting between the two gates, and the sentinel went up to the roof of the gate by the wall and he lifted up his eyes and watched, and look, a man [was] running by himself.

25 The sentry called and told the king, and the king said, "If he [is] alone, good news is in his mouth." {He kept coming closer}.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "And let it happen what"