Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole 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 Psalm 7, “Cush, the Benjamite,” cannot mean this Cushi, since the contents of the Psalm are not suitable to this occasion.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole 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^F1Pirke Eliezer, c. 53. take him to be the same with Cush the Benjaminite, in the title of the seventh psalm, Psalm 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.

Keil & Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Joab therefore entrusted the Cushite with the duty of conveying to David the announcement of what had occurred. It cannot be decided with certainty whether הכּוּשׁי or Cushi is the proper name of an Israelite, or whether it signifies the “Cushite,” i.e., a descendant of Cush. The form of the name rather favours the latter view, in which case it would suggest the idea of a Moorish slave in the service of Joab.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Samuel 18:21 Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

Ver. 21. Then said Joab to Cushi.] (a) Cuidam Aethiopi; so Tremellius rendereth it; to a certain blackamoor, some slave that belonged to David’s house, [2 Samuel 18:31] whose acceptance before the king Joab did not so much regard; and, because of his blackness, he might be the fitter messenger of such doleful tidings, as he knew it would be to David.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

To Cushi, or, to an Ethiopian; so he might be by birth, and yet by profession an Israelite.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

21.Cushi — Supposed by some to have been an Ethiopian slave in the service of Joab.

What thou hast seen — He was probably among those ten young men (2 Samuel 18:15) that smote Absalom.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Chusi: perhaps, of Ethiopian extraction. (Grotius)

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

Then said Joab to Cushi, [ la-Kuwshiy (Hebrew #3569)] - to the Ethiopian. Perhaps the ground of this soldier's selection for a mission so painful for any courtier to discharge, was that of his being a foreigner, and personally unknown to the king.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(21) Cushi.—Rather, the Cushite, probably an Ethiopian slave in Joab’s service, for whose falling under the king’s displeasure he had little care.