Bible Strands
2 Samuel 15:35
Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David instructs Hushai to return to Jerusalem and feign allegiance to Absalom. He directs Hushai to use the priests Zadok and Abiathar as intelligence contacts while stationed in the city.
The words — The Hebrew וַ/הֲ/ל֤וֹא (va/ha/Lo') functions as a rhetorical negative expecting an affirmative answer, yielding "Will not." The phrase עִמְּ/ךָ֙ שָ֔ם ('i.me./Kha Sham) literally translates to "with you there," confirming the priests' expected presence in Jerusalem.
The thread — This directive establishes the priestly network that later receives Hushai’s counter-counsel in 2 Samuel 17:15. The same Zadok and Abiathar appear repeatedly as key royal informants throughout the succession narrative.
Why it lands — The text commands Hushai to relay palace intelligence through established religious authorities rather than military channels. A reader must recognize that loyalty to David’s cause is being channeled through sanctioned priestly intermediaries during a political crisis.
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 hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 17:15 So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have advised.