So they returned to the city quietly that day, as people steal away in humiliation after fleeing a battle.
Parallel translations
- WEB The people sneaked into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
- KJV And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
- NKJV And the people stole back into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
- NASB And the people entered the city surreptitiously that day, just as people who are humiliated surreptitiously flee in battle.
- NLT They crept back into the town that day as though they were ashamed and had deserted in battle.
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
The victorious soldiers slipped quietly into the city as if ashamed, like defeated men. It matters because the king's misplaced mourning robbed faithful servants of their rightful honor.
Overview
Instead of returning as triumphant deliverers, the army crept in like beaten fugitives. David's unchecked grief shamed those who had saved his kingdom and his life. Scripture honestly records how even a godly man's disordered affections can wound the very people who serve him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Gen 31:27Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.
- 2 Sam 19:32Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.
- 2 Sam 17:24Then David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.
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 19:3 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.