Bible Strands
2 Samuel 13:34
Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. When the young man standing watch looked up, he saw many people coming down the road west of him, along the side of the hill. And the watchman went and reported to the king, “I see men coming from the direction of Horonaim, along the side of the hill.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The watchman reports to King David while Absalom flees the city following the aftermath of Amnon's death.
The words — וַ/יִּבְרַ֖ח (va/i.yiv.Rach) translates as "and he fled," and הַ/צֹּפֶה֙ (ha./tzo.Peh) denotes the one who kept watch.
The thread — The text records the watchman's sighting of men approaching from Horonaim before noting Absalom's escape, which aligns with the flight pattern in Genesis 4:8 and the bloodguilt warning of Proverbs 28:17. This observation directly triggers Jonadab's confirmation in 2 Samuel 13:35.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to track how a ruler's delayed response to familial violence creates a visible crisis that demands immediate attention.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way of the hill side behind him.
Cross-references
- Genesis 4:8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
- 2 Samuel 13:37 Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But David mourned for his son every day.
- Proverbs 28:17 A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
- Amos 5:19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.