Bible Strands
2 Samuel 17:26
So the Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the military positioning at the moment Absalom’s rebellion reaches its peak, placing both the Israelite forces and Absalom himself in the territory of Gilead.
The words — וַיִּחַן (va.yi.chan) means "and he encamped," and אֶרֶץ הַגִּלְעָד (eretz ha.gil'ad) translates to "the land of Gilead."
The thread — Gilead appears earlier as a surveyed territory for the Reubenites and Gadites (Numbers 32:1), a tribal allotment for Machir (Deuteronomy 3:15), and an inheritance for Manasseh (Joshua 17:1).
Why it lands — The text establishes the geographic staging ground for the coming conflict, requiring the reader to track how territorial claims and military movements intersect in the narrative.
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 Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.
Cross-references
- Numbers 32:1 Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.
- Deuteronomy 3:15 To Machir I gave Gilead,
- Joshua 17:1 Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.