The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day.
Parallel translations
- WEB The people of Israel were struck there before David’s servants, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men.
- KJV Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
- BSB There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men.
- NASB The people of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great, twenty thousand men.
- NLT and the Israelite troops were beaten back by David’s men. There was a great slaughter that day, and 20,000 men laid down their lives.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Absalom's army is decisively defeated with twenty thousand casualties. David's rebellion-torn kingdom wins a costly victory.
Overview
The forces of Israel under Absalom are routed by David's servants in a great slaughter. The heavy loss reflects the tragic cost of rebellion against God's appointed king. Even in victory, the bloodshed among God's own people is a grief, underscoring how sin's revolt brings death.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 24:21My son, fear Yahweh and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious:
- 2 Chr 28:6For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed in Judah one hundred twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men, because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers.
- Prov 11:21Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
- 2 Sam 2:31But David’s servants had struck Benjamin and of Abner’s men so that three hundred sixty men died.
- 2 Chr 13:16–17The children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand.
- 2 Sam 15:6Absalom did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
- 2 Sam 19:41–43Behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away, and brought the king, and his household, over the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?”
- 2 Sam 2:17The battle was very severe that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before David’s servants.
- 2 Sam 2:26Then Abner called to Joab, and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Don’t you know that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long will it be then, before you ask the people to return from following their brothers?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 18:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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