Bible Strands
2 Samuel 15:14
And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David speaks to his remaining servants in Jerusalem immediately after a messenger reports that Israel’s leaders have defected to Absalom. He commands them to abandon the city before Absalom’s forces arrive.
The words — The Hebrew imperative ק֣וּמוּ (Ku.mu) literally means “arise” or “rise up,” framing the departure as a coordinated mobilization rather than a chaotic flight.
The thread — The text records the immediate threat of being “put to the sword” (2 Samuel 15:14) and anticipates the internal betrayal warned in 2 Samuel 12:11. The resulting tribal fractures later surface in the disputes noted in 2 Samuel 19:9.
Why it lands — The passage first records David’s tactical order to flee rather than fight, then shows his servants’ immediate pledge of loyalty. It asks the reader to acknowledge that faithful leadership sometimes requires pragmatic withdrawal to preserve life and mission when political support collapses.
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
And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 19:9 And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled the land because of Absalom.
- 2 Samuel 12:11 This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.
- 2 Samuel 23:16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD,
- Psalms 3:1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how my foes have increased! How many rise up against me!
- Psalms 51:18 In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
- Psalms 55:3 at the voice of the enemy, at the pressure of the wicked. For they bring down disaster upon me and resent me in their anger.
- Psalms 137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.
- Ezekiel 46:18 The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people by evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people will be displaced from his property.’”
- Matthew 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence, and the violent lay claim to it.
- Luke 10:15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades!