15:7 After four 1 years Absalom said to the king, “Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron. 15:8 For I made this vow 2 when I was living in Geshur in Aram: ‘If the Lord really does allow me to return to Jerusalem, 3 I will serve the Lord.’” 15:9 The king replied to him, “Go in peace.” So Absalom 4 got up and went to Hebron.
15:10 Then Absalom sent spies through all the tribes of Israel who said, “When you hear the sound of the horn, you may assume 5 that Absalom rules in Hebron.” 15:11 Now two hundred men had gone with Absalom from Jerusalem. Since they were invited, they went naively and were unaware of what Absalom was planning. 6 15:12 While he was offering sacrifices, Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s adviser, 7 to come from his city, Giloh. 8 The conspiracy was gaining momentum, and the people were starting to side with Absalom.
15:13 Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The men of Israel are loyal to Absalom!” 9 15:14 So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, 10 “Come on! 11 Let’s escape! 12 Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring 13 disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.” 14 15:15 The king’s servants replied to the king, “We will do whatever our lord the king decides.” 15
15:16 So the king and all the members of his royal court 16 set out on foot, though the king left behind ten concubines 17 to attend to the palace. 15:17 The king and all the people set out on foot, pausing 18 at a spot 19 some distance away. 15:18 All his servants were leaving with him, 20 along with all the Kerethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites – some six hundred men who had come on foot from Gath. They were leaving with 21 the king.
15:19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come with us? Go back and stay with the new 22 king, for you are a foreigner and an exile from your own country. 23 15:20 It seems like you arrived just yesterday. Today should I make you wander around by going with us? I go where I must go. But as for you, go back and take your men 24 with you. May genuine loyal love 25 protect 26 you!”
15:21 But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king is, whether dead or alive, 27 there I 28 will be as well!” 15:22 So David said to Ittai, “Come along then.” 29 So Ittai the Gittite went along, 30 accompanied by all his men and all the dependents 31 who were with him.
15:23 All the land was weeping loudly 32 as all these people were leaving. 33 As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving 34 on the road that leads to the desert. 15:24 Zadok and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. When they positioned the ark of God, Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving 35 the city.
15:25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s sight he will bring me back and enable me to see both it and his dwelling place again. 15:26 However, if he should say, ‘I do not take pleasure in you,’ then he will deal with me in a way that he considers appropriate.” 36
15:27 The king said to Zadok the priest, “Are you a seer? 37 Go back to the city in peace! Your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan may go with you and Abiathar. 38 15:28 Look, I will be waiting at the fords of the desert until word from you 39 reaches me.” 15:29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.
15:30 As David was going up the Mount of Olives, he was weeping as he went; his head was covered and his feet were bare. All the people who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went up. 15:31 Now David 40 had been told, “Ahithophel has sided with the conspirators who are with Absalom. So David prayed, 41 “Make the advice of Ahithophel foolish, O Lord!”
1 tc The MT has here “forty,” but this is presumably a scribal error for “four.” The context will not tolerate a period of forty years prior to the rebellion of Absalom. The Lucianic Greek recension (τέσσαρα ἔτη, tessara ete), the Syriac Peshitta (’arba’ sanin), and Vulgate (post quattuor autem annos) in fact have the expected reading “four years.” Most English translations follow the versions in reading “four” here, although some (e.g. KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), following the MT, read “forty.”
2 tn Heb “for your servant vowed a vow.” The formal court style of referring to one’s self in third person (“your servant”) has been translated here as first person for clarity.
3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “say.”
6 tn Heb “being invited and going naively and they did not know anything.”
7 tn Traditionally, “counselor,” but this term is more often associated with psychological counseling today, so “adviser” was used in the translation instead.
8 tn Heb “Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the adviser of David, from his city, from Giloh, while he was sacrificing.” It is not entirely clear who (Absalom or Ahithophel) was offering the sacrifices.
9 tn Heb “the heart of the men of Israel is with Absalom.”
10 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
11 tn Heb “Arise!”
12 tn Heb “let’s flee.”
13 tn Heb “thrust.”
14 tn Heb “and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
15 tn Heb “according to all that my lord the king will choose, behold your servants!”
16 tn Heb “and all his house.”
17 tn Heb “women, concubines.”
18 tn Heb “and they stood.”
19 tn Heb “house.”
20 tn Heb “crossing over near his hand.”
21 tn Heb “crossing over near the face of.”
22 tn The word “new” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to make it clear that David refers to Absalom, not himself.
23 tn Heb “place.”
24 tn Heb “brothers,” but see v. 22.
25 tn Heb “loyal love and truth.” The expression is a hendiadys.
26 tn Heb “be with.”
27 tn Heb “whether for death or for life.”
28 tn Heb “your servant.”
29 tn Heb “Come and cross over.”
30 tn Heb “crossed over.”
31 tn Heb “all the little ones.”
32 tn Heb “with a great voice.”
33 tn Heb “crossing over.”
34 tn Heb “crossing near the face of.”
35 tn Heb “crossing from.”
36 tn Heb “as [is] good in his eyes.”
37 tn The Greek tradition understands the Hebrew word as an imperative (“see”). Most Greek
38 tn Heb “And Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, two of your sons, with you.” The pronominal suffix on the last word is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.
39 tn The pronoun is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.
40 tc The translation follows 4QSama, part of the Greek tradition, the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate uldavid in reading “and to David,” rather than MT וְדָוִד (vÿdavid, “and David”). As Driver points out, the Hebrew verb הִגִּיד (higgid, “he related”) never uses the accusative for the person to whom something is told (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 316).
41 tn Heb “said.”