Bible Strands
2 Samuel 19:1
Then it was reported to Joab, “The king is weeping and mourning over Absalom.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A messenger reports to Joab that King David is weeping and mourning over Absalom immediately after the battle that produced the king’s victory.
The words — The verb וַ/יֻּגַּ֖ד (va/i.yu.Gad) translates literally as "it was told," framing the passage as a passive report, while בֹּכֶ֛ה (bo.Kheh) denotes the king's active weeping.
The thread — This report follows David’s explicit order to spare Absalom (2 Samuel 18:5) and directly causes the public mourning that turns the day’s military success into grief (2 Samuel 19:2).
Why it lands — The text forces the reader to confront the collision between military duty and personal attachment, showing how a commander’s report can abruptly shift a nation’s emotional state.
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 it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 18:5 Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom.
- 2 Samuel 18:14 But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree.
- 2 Samuel 18:12 The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’
- 2 Samuel 18:20 But Joab replied, “You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”
- 2 Samuel 18:33 The king was shaken and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
- Proverbs 17:25 A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.