2 Samuel 17:12

Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. And of all the men with him, not even one will remain.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Ahithophel addresses Absalom, urging immediate military pursuit of David before he can escape into a fortified city.

The words — בְּאַחַד הַמְּקֹמוֹת (be./'a.chat ha./me.ko.Mot) means "in one of the places," paired with נִמְצָא (nim.Tza') meaning "he is found," which frames the search as exhaustive and inescapable.

The thread — The motif of tracking a fugitive appears in 1 Samuel 23:23, while the promise of total annihilation echoes 1 Kings 20:10.

Why it lands — The text asserts that complete destruction of David and his followers is inevitable if pursued, demanding recognition of how human strategy operates under sovereign control.

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 shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

Cross-references

1 Samuel 23:23 Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.”
1 Kings 20:10 Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”
2 Kings 18:23 Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
2 Kings 19:24 I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
Isaiah 10:13 For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
Obadiah 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’