Bible Strands
2 Samuel 15:10
Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Absalom dispatches agents across Israel immediately after departing Jerusalem for Hebron under David’s permission. The coordinated message uses a horn blast as a trigger for a public declaration of his kingship.
The words — The Hebrew מְרַגְּלִים (meragglîm) identifies the dispatched agents as “spies” or political operatives, while וַיִּשְׁלַח (wayyišlaḥ) records the deliberate act of sending them throughout all the tribes.
The thread — This Hebron proclamation directly mirrors David’s prior seven-and-a-half-year reign in the same city (2 Samuel 2:11) and activates the geographic shift David authorized when he dismissed Absalom to Hebron (2 Samuel 15:9).
Why it lands — The text first establishes a mechanical signal-and-response system for political mobilization before any theological assessment of legitimacy occurs. Readers must first track how a coordinated acoustic trigger converts a regional gathering into a declared usurpation.
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 sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 2:1 Some time later, David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” “Go up,” the LORD answered. Then David asked, “Where should I go?” “To Hebron,” replied the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 2:11 And the length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
- 2 Samuel 3:2 And sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;
- 2 Samuel 5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
- 2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
- 2 Samuel 14:30 Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
- 2 Samuel 19:10 But Absalom, the man we anointed over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about restoring the king?”
- 1 Kings 1:34 There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him king over Israel. You are to blow the ram’s horn and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’
- 2 Kings 9:13 Quickly, each man took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. Then they blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”
- 1 Chronicles 11:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where David made a covenant with them before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD through Samuel.