18:24 Now David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, 1 and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate at the wall. When he looked, he saw a man running by himself. 18:25 So the watchman called out and informed the king. The king said, “If he is by himself, he brings good news.” 2 The runner 3 came ever closer.
18:26 Then the watchman saw another man running. The watchman called out to the gatekeeper, “There is another man running by himself.” The king said, “This one also is bringing good news.” 18:27 The watchman said, “It appears to me that the first runner is Ahimaaz 4 son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man, and he comes with good news.”
18:28 Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Greetings!” 5 He bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and said, “May the Lord your God be praised because he has defeated 6 the men who opposed 7 my lord the king!”
18:29 The king replied, “How is the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz replied, “I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was all about.” 18:30 The king said, “Turn aside and take your place here.” So he turned aside and waited.
18:31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, 8 “May my lord the king now receive the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today and delivered you from the hand of all who have rebelled against you!” 9 18:32 The king asked the Cushite, “How is the young man Absalom?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you 10 be like that young man!”
18:33 (19:1) 11 The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, 12 Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” 13
1 tn Heb “the two gates.”
2 tn Heb “good news is in his mouth.”
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the runner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “I am seeing the running of the first one like the running of Ahimaaz.”
5 tn Heb “Peace.”
6 tn Heb “delivered over.”
7 tn Heb “lifted their hand against.”
8 tn Heb “And look, the Cushite came and the Cushite said.”
9 tn Heb “for the
10 tn Heb “and all those rising against you for evil.”
11 sn This marks the beginning of ch. 19 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 18:33, the verse numbers through 19:43 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 18:33 ET = 19:1 HT, 19:1 ET = 19:2 HT, 19:2 ET = 19:3 HT, etc., through 19:43 ET = 19:44 HT. From 20:1 the versification in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible is again the same.
12 tc One medieval Hebrew
13 tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.