2 Samuel 18:7

7 The army of Israel [was] defeated there before the servants of David, and the defeat there was great on that day: twenty thousand.

2 Samuel 18:7 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 18:7

Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of
David
That is, the people of Israel that were under Absalom, these were beaten by David's army:

and there was a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand [men];
including both those that fell in the field of battle, and that were slain in the pursuit; and this is to be understood only of Absalom's party.

2 Samuel 18:7 In-Context

5 The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, "With respect to the young man Absalom, [deal] gently for me." And all the troops heard when the king ordered all of the commanders concerning the matter of Absalom.

6 The army went out to the field to meet Israel, and the battle was [fought] in the forest of Ephraim.

7 The army of Israel [was] defeated there before the servants of David, and the defeat there was great on that day: twenty thousand.

8 The battle there was spreading over the surface of all the land, and {the forest devoured more among the army than} the sword [did] on that day.

9 Absalom was found in the presence of the servants of David [as he was] riding on the mule. The mule went under the thicket of the great oak tree, and his head [was] caught in the tree. He [was] left hanging between heaven and earth, and the mule which [was] under him went on.