2 Samuel 18:27

27 The sentinel said, "I [am] seeing [that] the running of the first [is] like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zakok." The king said, "He [is] a good man; he will come, for good news."

2 Samuel 18:27 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 18:27

And the watchman said, me thinketh
Or, "I see" ^F2; I perceive, so it appears to me:

that the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son
of Zadok;
who it seems was well known, and famous for his manner of running and swiftness in it, having been employed in carrying expresses before from Jerusalem to David, and his army, wheresoever they were; and some of these persons thus employed were very swift; we read ^F3 of one that was a king's messenger, that went from Jerusalem to Tyre, on the first of Elul, or August, in a night and a day; which, according to Bunting ^F4 was an hundred miles: this watchman must be one of David's sentinels, who was well acquainted with the people about him:

and the king said, he [is] a good man, and cometh with good tidings;
he knew he was a man of courage, and therefore was not one that fled, but must be a messenger; and that he was well affected to him, and would never be the messenger of evil tidings to him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (har yna) (egw orw) , Sept. "ego videns", Montanus; "video", Tigurine version.
F3 T. Hieros. Taanioth, fol. 68. 3.
F4 Travels, p. 200.

2 Samuel 18:27 In-Context

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}.

26 Then the sentinel saw another man running, so the sentinel called to the gatekeeper and said, "Look, a man running alone." The king said, "This one also [is] bringing good news."

27 The sentinel said, "I [am] seeing [that] the running of the first [is] like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zakok." The king said, "He [is] a good man; he will come, for good news."

28 Then Ahimaaz called and said to the king, "Peace." He bowed down to the king with his face to the ground, and he said, "May Yahweh your God be blessed, who has delivered the men who raised their hand against my lord the king."

29 The king said, "[Is] it peace for the young man Absalom?" Ahimaaz said, "I saw the great commotion when Joab the servant of the king sent your servant, but I do not know what [it was all about]."