Bible Strands
2 Samuel 13:38
After Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, he stayed there three years.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text narrates Absalom’s continued exile in Geshur following his flight from Jerusalem after killing Amnon.
The words — `גְּשׁ֑וּר (Geshur)` identifies the foreign sanctuary where he took refuge, while `שָׁלֹ֥שׁ שָׁנִֽים (shalosh shanim)` literally means three years, marking the fixed duration of his stay.
The thread — This period of exile ends when Joab retrieves him in 2 Samuel 14:23, and Geshur is later recalled in 2 Samuel 15:8 as the place where Absalom made a vow before his return to Jerusalem.
Why it lands — The verse establishes a concrete timeframe of separation that allows David’s initial mourning to shift toward longing, creating the necessary conditions for Absalom’s eventual return and political consolidation.
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
So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 14:23 So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
- 2 Samuel 14:32 “Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”
- 2 Samuel 15:8 For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”