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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - 2 Samuel 18:14 - 18:14
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Joab replied, “Not so will I wait before thee,” i.e., I will not leave the thing to thee. He then took three staffs in his hand, and thrust them into Absalom's heart. שְׁבָטִים is rendered by the lxx and Vulgate, βέλη, lanceas; and Thenius would adopt שִׁלְחִים accordingly, as an emendation of the text. But in the earlier Hebrew שֶׁלַח only occurs in poetical writings in the sense of a missile or dart (Job 33:18; Job 36:12; Joe 2:8); and it is not till after the captivity that we find it used to denote a weapon generally. There is no necessity, however, for altering the text. Joab caught up in his hurry the first thing that he found, namely pointed staff, and pierced Absalom with them to the heart. This explains the reason for his taking three, whereas one javelin or dart would have been sufficient, and also the fact that Absalom was not slain, notwithstanding their being thrust at his heart. The last clause of the verse belongs to what follows: “Still living (i.e., as he was still alive) in the midst of the terebinth, ten young men, Joab's armour-bearers, surrounded him, and smote him to death.”