Bible Strands
2 Samuel 20:5
So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time allotted him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Amasa's departure to execute King David's direct command to gather the men of Judah within a three-day deadline. This action follows David's promise to reinstate Amasa as commander and his immediate order to Abishai to pursue Sheba.
The words — The verb וַיּוֹחֵר (va-yi-cher, H309) literally means "and he was delayed" or "he tarried," marking Amasa's failure to meet the deadline. The noun הַמּוֹעֵד (ha-mo'ed, H4150) refers to the specific appointed time or deadline established by the king.
The thread — The motif of missing an appointed time recurs in 1 Samuel 13:8, where Saul waits for Samuel, and in 2 Samuel 19:13, where David reaffirms his pledge to Amasa. These parallels frame Amasa's delay within a broader pattern of leadership and timing failures.
Why it lands — The text states a factual delay without moral commentary, leaving the reader to observe how administrative failure directly enables enemy mobility and forces rapid royal response. It demands recognition that broken deadlines trigger immediate military consequences and require swift counteraction.
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 Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 13:8 And Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to desert Saul.
- 2 Samuel 19:13 And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”