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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

2 Samuel 15:7

After four years of this, Absalom spoke to the king, "Let me go to Hebron to pay a vow that I made to God . Your servant made a vow when I was living in Geshur in Aram saying, ‘If God will bring me back to Jerusalem, I'll serve him with my life.'"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ambition;   Consecration;   Covenant;   Deception;   Usurpation;   Vows;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Hypocrites;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Absalom;   David;   Hebron;   Vow;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Absalom;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Hushai;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Hebron;   Sacrifice and Offering;   Samuel, Books of;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Absalom;   David;   Jerusalem;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Hebron;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Absalom (1);   Adonijah;   Hebron (1);   Leasing;   Number;   Philistines;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Absalom;   High Place;   Machpelah;   Nazir;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I made to the Lord.
Hebrew Names Version
It happened at the end of forty years, that Avshalom said to the king, please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hevron.
King James Version
And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord , in Hebron.
Lexham English Bible
It happened at the end of four years that Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to Yahweh in Hebron,
English Standard Version
And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord , in Hebron.
New Century Version
After four years Absalom said to King David, "Please let me go to Hebron. I want to carry out my promise that I made to the Lord
New English Translation
After four years Absalom said to the king, "Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron.
Amplified Bible
And after four years, Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to the LORD at Hebron [my birthplace].
New American Standard Bible
Now it came about at the end of four years that Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to the LORD, in Hebron.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And after fourtie yeeres, Absalom sayd vnto the King, I pray thee, let me go to Hebron, and render my vowe which I haue vowed vnto the Lorde.
Legacy Standard Bible
Now it happened at the end of forty years that Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron.
Contemporary English Version
Four years later, Absalom said to David, "Please, let me go to Hebron. I have to keep a promise that I made to the Lord ,
Complete Jewish Bible
At the end of forty years, Avshalom said to the king, "Please let me go to Hevron and fulfill the vow I made to Adonai .
Darby Translation
And it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said to the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay in Hebron my vow which I have vowed to Jehovah.
Easy-to-Read Version
After four years, Absalom said to King David, "Please let me go to Hebron to complete a special promise that I made to the Lord .
George Lamsa Translation
And it came to pass after four years Absalom said to the king, Let me go and fulfil my vow which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron;
Good News Translation
After four years Absalom said to King David, "Sir, let me go to Hebron and keep a promise I made to the Lord .
Literal Translation
And at the end of forty years, it happened, Absalom said to the king, Please let me go and I shall pay my vow that I have vowed to Jehovah, in Hebron.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
After fortye yeares sayde Absalom vnto the kynge: I wil go and perfourme my vowe at Hebron, which I made vnto the LORDE.
American Standard Version
And it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto Jehovah, in Hebron.
Bible in Basic English
Now at the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, Let me go to Hebron and give effect to the oath which I made to the Lord:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And after fourtie yeres, Absalom said vnto the king: I pray thee let me go to Hebron, & pay my vowe which I haue vowed vnto the Lorde:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said unto the king: 'I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.
King James Version (1611)
And it came to passe after fourtie yeeres, that Absalom said vnto the king, I pray thee, let mee goe and pay my vow which I haue vowed vnto the Lord in Hebron.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it came to pass after forty years, that Abessalom said to his father, I will go now, and pay my vows, which I vowed to the Lord in Chebron.
English Revised Version
And it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.
Berean Standard Bible
After four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe aftir foure yeer Absolon seide to kyng Dauid, Y schal go, and Y schal yelde my vowis, whiche Y vowide to the Lord in Ebron;
Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass, at the end of forty years, that Absalom saith unto the king, `Let me go, I pray thee, and I complete my vow, that I vowed to Jehovah in Hebron,
Update Bible Version
And it came to pass at the end of four years, that Absalom said to the king, I pray you, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron.
Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said to the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.
World English Bible
It happened at the end of forty years, that Absalom said to the king, please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron.
New King James Version
Now it came to pass after forty [fn] years that Absalom said to the king, "Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the Lord.
New Living Translation
After four years, Absalom said to the king, "Let me go to Hebron to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and fulfill a vow I made to him.
New Life Bible
At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, "I ask you, let me go to Hebron and keep my promise that I have promised to the Lord.
New Revised Standard
At the end of four years Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go to Hebron and pay the vow that I have made to the Lord .
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it came to pass, at the end of forty years, that Absolom said unto the king - Let me go, I pray thee, that I may pay my vow which I have vowed unto Yahweh, in Hebron;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And after forty years, Absalom said to king David: Let me go, and pay my vows which I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron.
Revised Standard Version
And at the end of four years Ab'salom said to the king, "Pray let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now it came about at the end of forty years that Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.

Contextual Overview

7After four years of this, Absalom spoke to the king, "Let me go to Hebron to pay a vow that I made to God . Your servant made a vow when I was living in Geshur in Aram saying, ‘If God will bring me back to Jerusalem, I'll serve him with my life.'" 9 The king said, "Go with my blessing." And he got up and set off for Hebron. 10Then Absalom sent undercover agents to all the tribes of Israel with the message, "When you hear the blast of the ram's horn trumpet, that's your signal: Shout, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!'" Two hundred men went with Absalom from Jerusalem. But they had been called together knowing nothing of the plot and made the trip innocently. While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he managed also to involve Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's advisor, calling him away from his hometown of Giloh. The conspiracy grew powerful and Absalom's supporters multiplied.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 2983, bc 1021, An, Ex, Is, 470

forty years: As David reigned in the whole only forty years, this reading is evidently corrupt, though supported by the commonly printed Vulgate, LXX, and Chaldee. But the Syriac, Arabic, Josephus, Theodoret, the Sixtine edition of the Vulgate, and several manuscripts of the same version, read four years; and it is highly probable that arbaim, forty, is an error for arba, four, though not supported by any Hebrew manuscript yet discovered. Two of those collated by Dr. Kennicott, however, have yom, "day," instead of shanah, "year," i.e., forty days instead of forty years; but this is not sufficient to outweigh the other authorities. 2 Samuel 13:38, 1 Samuel 16:1, 1 Samuel 16:13

let me go: 2 Samuel 13:24-27

pay: 1 Samuel 16:2, Proverbs 21:27, Isaiah 58:4, Matthew 2:8, Matthew 23:14

Reciprocal: Genesis 34:14 - uncircumcised Numbers 21:2 - vowed Joshua 21:11 - is Hebron 2 Samuel 2:1 - Hebron Psalms 109:7 - and let Proverbs 7:14 - this Jonah 2:9 - I will pay

Cross-References

Genesis 12:1
God told Abram: "Leave your country, your family, and your father's home for a land that I will show you.
Genesis 12:7
God appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your children." Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.
Genesis 15:2
Abram said, " God , Master, what use are your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?" Abram continued, "See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all."
Genesis 15:4
Then God 's Message came: "Don't worry, he won't be your heir; a son from your body will be your heir."
Genesis 15:7
God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."
Genesis 15:8
Abram said, "Master God , how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?"
Genesis 15:17
When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses. That's when God made a covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."
Romans 4:13
That famous promise God gave Abraham—that he and his children would possess the earth—was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It was based on God's decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered when he believed. If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That's not a holy promise; that's a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise—and God's promise at that—you can't break it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass after forty years,.... Or four years; so long it was from the reconciliation of Absalom to David, as Josephus f says; and so read Theodoret on the place, the Syriac and Arabic versions: but some say it was either forty years from the time Israel first had a king; and which might be an era of reckoning with the Jews, as the era of Seleucidae was with the Greeks, on the like account; or from the time Saul slew the priests at Nob, as Jerom g; or from the time of David's being anointed by Samuel; or this was the year of Absalom's age, or of David's reign: but these, and other attempts made to account for this passage, are not entirely satisfactory; and therefore one may be tempted to conclude there must be a mistake in the copy, of "arbaim" for "arba", forty for four; which makes it quite easy, and confirms the first sense:

that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow,

which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron; not what he vowed in Hebron; for according to his own account he had vowed it in Geshur, as in 2 Samuel 15:8; but his request is, that he might pay it in Hebron; which place he fixed upon, being his native place, and where David was anointed king; and which, being about twenty miles from Jerusalem, was at a proper distance to lay the scene of his conspiracy in, and bring it to perfection.

f Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 1. g Trad. Heb. in 2 lib. Reg. fol. 78. M.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Forty years - An obvious clerical error, though a very ancient one for four years, which may date from Absalom’s return from Geshur, or from his reconciliation with David, or from the commencement of the criminal schemes to which 2 Samuel 15:1 refers.

Hebron - This, as having been the old capital of David’s kingdom and Absalom’s birthplace, was well chosen. It was a natural center, had probably many inhabitants discontented at the transfer of the government to Jerusalem, and contained many of the friends of Absalom’s youth. As the place of his birth (compare 1 Samuel 20:6), it afforded a plausible pretext for holding there the great sacrificial feast (“the serving the Lord,” 2 Samuel 15:8), which Absalom pretended to have vowed to hold to the glory of God.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 15:7. After forty years — There is no doubt that this reading is corrupt, though supported by the commonly printed Vulgate, the Septuagint, and the Chaldee. But the Syriac has [Syriac] arba shanin, FOUR years; the Arabic the same [Arabic] arba shinin, FOUR years; and Josephus has the same; so also the Sixtine edition of the Vulgate, and several MSS. of the same version. Theodoret also reads four, not forty; and most learned men are of opinion that ארבעים arbaim, FORTY, is an error for אברע arba, FOUR; yet this reading is not supported by any Hebrew MS. yet discovered. But two of those collated by Dr. Kennicott have יום yom instead of שנה shanah, i.e., forty DAYS, instead of forty YEARS; and this is a reading more likely to be true than that in the commonly received text. We know that Absalom did stay THREE years with his grandfather at Geshur, 2 Samuel 13:38; and this probably was a year after his return: the era, therefore, may be the time of his slaying his brother Amnon; and the four years include the time from his flight till the conspiracy mentioned here.


 
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