2 Samuel 18:12

12 And the man said unto Joab, "Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son; for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, `Beware that none touch 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 And a certain man saw it, and told Joab and said, "Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak."

11 And Joab said unto the man who told him, "And behold, thou sawest him, and why did thou not smite him there to the ground? And I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle."

12 And the man said unto Joab, "Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son; for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, `Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.'

13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life; for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me."

14 Then said Joab, "I may not tarry thus with thee." And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.