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Literal Standard Version

2 Samuel 18:21

And Joab says to Cushi, "Go, declare to the king that which you have seen"; and Cushi bows himself to Joab, and runs.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ahimaaz;   Cushi;   Readings, Select;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ahimaaz;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Gospel;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Cushi;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ahimaaz;   Cushite;   David;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Abishai;   Ahimaaz;   Cush;   Cushi, Cushite;   Samuel, Books of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ahimaaz ;   Cushi ;   Zadok ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Absalom;   Ahimaaz;   David;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ahim'a-Az;   Cu'shi;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cushi;   Cushite;   Ethiopia;   Gesture;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Ahimaaz;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Esther, Apocryphal Book of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Joab then said to a Cushite, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.
Hebrew Names Version
Then said Yo'av to the Kushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. The Kushite bowed himself to Yo'av, and ran.
King James Version
Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
Lexham English Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen"; then the Cushite bowed down to Joab and ran off.
English Standard Version
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran.
New Century Version
Then Joab said to a man from Cush, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed to Joab and ran to tell David.
New English Translation
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." After bowing to Joab, the Cushite ran off.
Amplified Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite (Ethiopian), "Go, tell the king what you have seen." And the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.
New American Standard Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then said Ioab to Cushi, Goe, tel the king, what thou hast seene. And Cushi bowed himselfe vnto Ioab, and ran.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.
Contemporary English Version
Someone from Ethiopia was standing there, and Joab told him, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." The man knelt down in front of Joab and then got up and started running.
Complete Jewish Bible
Then Yo'av said to the Ethiopian, "Go, tell the king what you saw." The Ethiopian bowed to Yo'av, then ran off.
Darby Translation
Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Ethiopian bowed to Joab and ran to tell David.
George Lamsa Translation
Then Joab said to Cushi, Go tell the king what you have seen; and he ran.
Good News Translation
Then he said to his Ethiopian slave, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." The slave bowed and ran off.
Literal Translation
And Joab said to Cushi, Go, tell the king that which you have seen. And Cushi bowed to Joab, and ran.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But vnto Chusi sayde Ioab: Go thou thy waye, and tell the kynge what thou hast sene. And Chusi did his obeysauce vnto Ioab, and ranne.
American Standard Version
Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
Bible in Basic English
Then Joab said to the Cushite, Go and give the king word of what you have seen. And the Cushite, making a sign of respect to Joab, went off running.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayd Ioab to Chusi: Go and tell the kyng what thou hast seene. And Chusi bowed him selfe vnto Ioab, and ranne.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said Joab to the Cushite: 'Go tell the king what thou hast seen.' And the Cushite bowed down unto Joab, and ran.
King James Version (1611)
Then said Ioab to Cushi, Goe tell the King what thou hast seene. And Cushi bowed himselfe vnto Ioab, and ranne.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Joab said to Chusi, Go, report to the king all that thou hast seen. And Chusi did obeisance to Joab, and went out.
English Revised Version
Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
Berean Standard Bible
So Joab said to a Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Joab seide to Chusi, Go thou, and telle to the kyng tho thingis that thou hast seyn. Chusi worschypide Joab, and ran.
Young's Literal Translation
And Joab saith to Cushi, `Go, declare to the king that which thou hast seen;' and Cushi boweth himself to Joab, and runneth.
Update Bible Version
Then Joab said to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. And the Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then said Joab to Cushi, Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
World English Bible
Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. The Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
New King James Version
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed himself to Joab and ran.
New Living Translation
Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, "Go tell the king what you have seen." The man bowed and ran off.
New Life Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.
New Revised Standard
Then Joab said to a Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Joab to a Cushite, Go tell the king, what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself down to Joab, and ran.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran.
Revised Standard Version
Then Jo'ab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed before Jo'ab, and ran.
THE MESSAGE
Then Joab ordered a Cushite, "You go. Tell the king what you've seen." "Yes sir," said the Cushite, and ran off.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.

Contextual Overview

19And Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Please let me run, and I bear the king tidings, for YHWH has delivered him out of the hand of his enemies"; 20and Joab says to him, "You are not a man of tidings this day, but you have borne tidings on another day, and this day you do not bear tidings, because the king's son [is] dead." 21And Joab says to Cushi, "Go, declare to the king that which you have seen"; and Cushi bows himself to Joab, and runs.22And Ahimaaz son of Zadok adds again and says to Joab, "And whatever it is, please let me run, I also, after the Cushite." And Joab says, "Why [is] this—you are running, my son, and [there are] no tidings found from you?" 23"And whatever happens," he said, "let me run." And he says to him, "Run"; and Ahimaaz runs the way of the circuit, and passes by the Cushite. 24And David is sitting between the two gates, and the watchman goes to the roof of the gate, to the wall, and lifts up his eyes, and looks, and behold, a man running by himself. 25And the watchman calls, and declares [it] to the king, and the king says, "If [he is] by himself, tidings [are] in his mouth"; and he comes, coming on and drawing near. 26And the watchman sees another man running, and the watchman calls to the gatekeeper, and says, "Behold, a man running by himself"; and the king says, "This one is also bearing tidings." 27And the watchman says, "I see the running of the first as the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok." And the king says, "This [is] a good man, and he comes with good tidings." 28And Ahimaaz calls and says to the king, "Peace"; and he bows himself to the king, on his face, to the earth, and says, "Blessed [is] your God YHWH who has shut up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 11:5
And YHWH comes down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have built;
Genesis 11:7
Give help, let us go down there and confuse their language, so that a man will not understand the language of his companion."
Genesis 18:1
And YHWH appears to him among the oaks of Mamre, and he is sitting at the opening of the tent, about the heat of the day;
Genesis 18:24
Perhaps there are fifty righteous in the midst of the city; do You also consume, and not bear with the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who [are] in its midst?
Exodus 3:8
and I go down to deliver it out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to cause it to go up out of the land to a land good and broad, to a land flowing with milk and honey—to the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Exodus 33:5
And YHWH says to Moses, "Say to the sons of Israel: You [are] a stiff-necked people; [in] one moment I could come up into your midst and could have consumed you; and now, put down your ornaments from off you, and I know what I do to you";
Deuteronomy 8:2
and you have remembered all the way which your God YHWH has caused you to go these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you to try you, to know that which [is] in your heart, whether you keep His commands or not.
Deuteronomy 13:3
you do not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of the dream, for your God YHWH is trying you to know whether you are loving your God YHWH with all your heart and with all your soul;
Joshua 22:22
"The God of gods—YHWH, the God of gods—YHWH, He is knowing, and Israel—he knows, if [we are] in rebellion, and if in trespass against YHWH, do not save us this day!
Job 34:22
There is no darkness nor death-shade, || For workers of iniquity to be hidden there;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said Joab to Cushi,.... The Ethiopian, or blackamoor; who either was an Ethiopian by birth and proselyted, or he was an Israelite of a black complexion, and therefore so called; and was judged a proper person by the general to carry such dismal news to the king, as he knew it would be. Some Jewish writers a take him to be the same with Cush the Benjaminite, in the title of the seventh psalm, Psalms 7:1; and that he is the same that told Joab he saw Absalom hanging in an oak, and declared that, if a thousand shekels of silver were offered him, he would not have put forth his hand against him, 2 Samuel 18:10; though some think this was one of the ten young men that waited on Joab, and by his orders slew Absalom; but it would have been dangerous for one of these to have carried the tidings, had he been known by David to have done it:

go tell the king what thou hast seen: by which it should seem that he was present when Absalom was killed:

and Cushi bowed himself unto Joab; in reverence to him as his general, and in thankfulness for sending him on this errand:

and ran; as fast as he could.

a Pirke Eliezer, c. 53.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Cushi - “The Cushite,” a foreign slave, perhaps of Joab’s, whom he did not scruple to expose to David’s anger. If, however, it is a name, it must be rendered “Haccushi.” In the title to Psalms 7:0, “Cush, the Benjamite,” cannot mean this Cushi, since the contents of the Psalm are not suitable to this occasion.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 18:21. Tell the king what thou hast seen — At this time the death of Absalom was not publicly known; but Joab had given Cushi private information of it. This Ahimaaz had not, for he could not tell the king whether Absalom were dead. To this Joab seems to refer, 2 Samuel 18:22: "Thou hast no tidings ready."


 
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