2 Samuel 15:23-37

Context

15:23 All the land was weeping loudly¹ as all these people were leaving.² As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving³ 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 leaving⁴ 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.”⁵

15:27 The king said to Zadok the priest, “Are you a seer?⁶ Go back to the city in peace! Your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan may go with you and Abiathar.⁷ 15:28 Look, I will be waiting at the fords of the desert until word from you⁸ 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 David⁹ had been told, “Ahithophel has sided with the conspirators who are with Absalom. So David prayed,¹⁰ “Make the advice of Ahithophel foolish, O Lord!”

15:32 When David reached the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite met him with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 15:33 David said to him, “If you leave¹¹ with me you will be a burden to me. 15:34 But you will be able to counter the advice of Ahithophel if you go back to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king! Previously I was your father’s servant, and now I will be your servant.’ 15:35 Zadok and Abiathar the priests will be there with you.¹² Everything you hear in the king’s palace¹³ you must tell Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 15:36 Furthermore, their two sons are there with them, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. You must send them to me with any information you hear.”¹⁴

15:37 So David’s friend Hushai arrived in the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

[15:23] ¹tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[15:23] ²tn Heb “crossing over.”

[15:23] ³tn Heb “crossing near the face of.”

[15:24] ⁴tn Heb “crossing from.”

[15:26] ⁵tn Heb “as [is] good in his eyes.”

[15:27] ⁶tn The Greek tradition understands the Hebrew word as an imperative (“see”). Most Greek mss have ἴδετε (idete); the Lucianic recension has βλέπε (blepe). It could just as well be taken as a question: “Don’t you see what is happening?” The present translation takes the word as a question, with the implication that Zadok is a priest and not a prophet (i.e., “seer”) and therefore unable to know what the future holds.

[15:27] ⁷tn 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.

[15:28] ⁸tn The pronoun is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.

[15:31] ⁹tc The translation follows 4QSam^a, 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).

[15:31] ¹⁰tn Heb “said.”

[15:33] ¹¹tn Heb “cross over.”

[15:35] ¹²tn Heb “Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you?” The rhetorical question draws attention to the fact that Hushai will not be alone.

[15:35] ¹³tn Heb “from the house of the king.”

[15:36] ¹⁴tn Heb “and you must send by their hand to me every word which you hear.” Both of the second person verb forms are plural with Zadok, Abiathar, and Hushai being the understood subjects.