2 Samuel 18:12

12 The man told Joab, "Even if I'd had a chance at a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn't have laid a hand on the king's son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, 'For my sake, protect the young man Absalom.'

2 Samuel 18:12 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 18:12

And the man said unto Joab
Disdaining his proposal:

though I should receive a thousand [shekels] of silver in mine hand;
or such a sum should be offered to me; the Arabic version is a million;

[yet] would I not put forth my hand against the king's son;
to smite him, and slay him:

for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abishai, and Ittai;
his three generals:

saying, beware that none [touch] the young man Absalom;
so as to slay him; they were charged to abstain from it themselves, and to watch and observe others, and keep them from doing it.

2 Samuel 18:12 In-Context

10 A solitary soldier saw him and reported it to Joab, "I just saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree!"

11 Joab said to the man who told him, "If you saw him, why didn't you kill him then and there? I'd have rewarded you with ten pieces of silver and a fancy belt."

12 The man told Joab, "Even if I'd had a chance at a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn't have laid a hand on the king's son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, 'For my sake, protect the young man Absalom.'

13 Why, I'd be risking my life, for nothing is hidden from the king. And you would have just stood there!"

14 Joab said, "I can't waste my time with you." He then grabbed three knives and stabbed Absalom in the heart while he was still alive in the tree;