Bible Strands
2 Samuel 18:24
Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall, looked out, and saw a man running alone.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrative places David between two gates while a watchman climbs the gateway roof to survey the approach. This occurs immediately after Ahimaaz finishes running ahead of the Cushite messenger.
The words — יוֹשֵׁב (yo.Shev) conveys a sustained, stationary sitting rather than a momentary pause. בֵּין שְׁנֵי הַשְּׁעָרִים (bein shene ha'sha'arim) literally identifies David’s precise location between two distinct gates.
The thread — The pattern of a ruler positioned at a gate to monitor approaching messengers reappears in 2 Samuel 19:8. A parallel watchman scene occurs in 2 Samuel 13:34, though the observer there notes a crowd rather than a solitary runner.
Why it lands — The text records David’s fixed position as a deliberate vantage point for receiving battle reports. Readers must observe that the watchman’s sighting of a lone runner directly prompts the king’s immediate calculation that the approaching man carries favorable news.
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 sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 19:8 So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” So they all came before the king. Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled, each man to his home.
- 1 Samuel 4:13 When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.
- 2 Samuel 13:34 Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. When the young man standing watch looked up, he saw many people coming down the road west of him, along the side of the hill. And the watchman went and reported to the king, “I see men coming from the direction of Horonaim, along the side of the hill.”
- 2 Samuel 18:4 “I will do whatever seems best to you,” the king replied. So he stood beside the gate, while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
- Isaiah 21:6 For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees.
- Isaiah 21:11 This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”
- Ezekiel 33:2 “Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: ‘Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land choose a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman,
- 2 Kings 9:17 Now the watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, and he called out, “I see a company of troops!” “Choose a rider,” Joram commanded. “Send him out to meet them and ask, ‘Have you come in peace?’”