Shmuel Bais 18:11

11 And Yoav said unto the ish that told him, And, hinei, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not strike him down to the ground there? And I would have given thee ten shekels of kesef, and a khagorah.

Shmuel Bais 18:11 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 18:11

And Joab said unto the man that told him
That gave the above account of him:

and, behold, thou sawest [him];
in reality; or, "didst thou see him?" is it a fact?

and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground;
kill him on the spot, that he might have dropped from the tree to the ground:

and I would have given thee ten [shekels] of silver;
on the news of it, for doing it, which was near twenty four shillings of our money; Josephus says ^F9 fifty shekels; the Arabic version has it ten thousand talents of silver, too great a sum by far:

and a girdle?
which was a mark of great honour, and a token of a commission under him, and of investing: him with a military office; see ( 1 Samuel 18:4 ) ; it used to be given as an honorary reward to soldiers that behaved well, as on the contrary it was reckoned a reproach to be ungirt, or the girdle to be taken away ^F11.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 10. sect. 2.)
F11 Vide Lydium de re militare, l. 3. c. 6.

Shmuel Bais 18:11 In-Context

9 And Avshalom met the avadim of Dovid. And Avshalom rode upon a pered (mule), and the pered went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his rosh (head) caught hold of elah (tree, oak), and he was suspended between HaShomayim and ha’aretz; the pered under him went on.

10 And a certain ish saw it, told Yoav, and said, Hinei, I saw Avshalom [ben Dovid] talui (hanged) b’elah (on a tree, oak) [ZECHARYAH 12:10].

11 And Yoav said unto the ish that told him, And, hinei, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not strike him down to the ground there? And I would have given thee ten shekels of kesef, and a khagorah.

12 And the ish said unto Yoav, Though I should receive elef kesef in mine palm, yet would I not put forth mine yad against the ben HaMelech; for in ozneinu (our hearing) HaMelech charged thee and Avishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the na’ar Avshalom.

13 Otherwise I should have dealt sheker against mine own nefesh; for there is no matter hid from HaMelech, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.