2 Samuel 19:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king,

NIV: With him were a thousand Benjamites, along with Ziba, the steward of Saul’s household, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed to the Jordan, where the king was.

NASB: And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

CSB: There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him. Ziba, an attendant from the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and twenty servants also rushed down to the Jordan ahead of the king.

NLT: A thousand other men from the tribe of Benjamin were with him, including Ziba, the chief servant of the house of Saul, and Ziba’s fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed down to the Jordan to meet the king.

KJV: And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.

NKJV: There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over the Jordan before the king.

Second Samuel 19:16–23 begins David's work of personal reconciliation. When David fled Jerusalem, the Benjaminite Shimei cursed him and threw stones (2 Samuel 16:5–8). Now, he arrives with a thousand men to help David's people cross the Jordan and return home. David forgives him. Ziba, Mephibosheth's property manager, also comes. Soon, Mephibosheth will tell David Ziba betrayed him, and David will restore half his land (2 Samuel 19:24–30). When Solomon is king, he'll have reason to execute Shimei (1 Kings 2:36–46).

David comes home after a tragic and costly rebellion. His son Absalom is dead, and rebel fighters have fled back home (2 Samuel 18). David falls into self-indulgent grief until Joab reminds him of his soldiers' honor. On the journey back to the Jordan, David reconciles with Shimei, Mephibosheth, and the elders of Judah, and blesses Barzillai. The elders of the northern tribes arrive and argue with Judah over who loves the king more—the king they tried to kill. The first chance they get, the men from Israel leave and try to start another rebellion (2 Samuel 20:1–2).

David's son, Absalom, manipulated the elders of the tribes, convincing them that he would make a better king than David (2 Samuel 15—17). During the one-day civil war, Joab killed Absalom, against David's orders (2 Samuel 18). David falls into a very public expression of mourning until Joab tells him to honor his living servants, not his dead, traitorous son. On the way to Jerusalem, David tries to forgive his enemies. The elders of Israel claim to welcome him back. But after squabbling with the elders from Judah, they join a new rebellion (2 Samuel 10:1–2).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.