2 Samuel 18:27

27 The man on guard duty said, "I can see that the first one runs like Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok." "He's a good man," the king said. "He's bringing 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.


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 He called out to the king and reported it. The king said, "If the runner is alone, he must be bringing good news." The man came closer and closer.
26 Then the man on guard duty saw another man running. He called out to the man who was guarding the gate. He said, "Look! There's another man running alone!" The king said, "He must be bringing good news too."
27 The man on guard duty said, "I can see that the first one runs like Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok." "He's a good man," the king said. "He's bringing good news."
28 Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, "Everything's all right!" He bowed down in front of the king with his face toward the ground. He said, "You are my king and master. Give praise to the LORD your God! He has handed over to you the men who lifted their hands to kill you."
29 The king asked, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" Ahimaaz answered, "I saw total disorder. I saw it just as Joab was about to send the king's servant and me to you. But I don't know what it was all about."
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