Βασιλειῶν Βʹ 18
1 καὶ ἐπεσκέψατο Δαυιδ τὸν λαὸν τὸν μετ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ κατέστησεν ἐπ’ αὐτῶν χιλιάρχους καὶ ἑκατοντάρχους
David arranged his soldiers for the battle. He divided them into groups, and appointed a commander for each 100 soldiers and a commander for each 1,000 soldiers.
2 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ τὸν λαόν τὸ τρίτον ἐν χειρὶ Ιωαβ καὶ τὸ τρίτον ἐν χειρὶ Αβεσσα υἱοῦ Σαρουιας ἀδελφοῦ Ιωαβ καὶ τὸ τρίτον ἐν χειρὶ Εθθι τοῦ Γεθθαίου καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς τὸν λαόν ἐξελθὼν ἐξελεύσομαι καί γε ἐγὼ μεθ’ ὑμῶν
He sent them out in three groups. Joab commanded one group, Joab’s brother Abishai commanded a second group, and Ittai from Gath commanded the third group. David said to them, “I myself will go with you [to the battle].”
3 καὶ εἶπαν οὐκ ἐξελεύσῃ ὅτι ἐὰν φυγῇ φύγωμεν οὐ θήσουσιν ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς καρδίαν καὶ ἐὰν ἀποθάνωμεν τὸ ἥμισυ ἡμῶν οὐ θήσουσιν ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς καρδίαν ὅτι σὺ ὡς ἡμεῖς δέκα χιλιάδες καὶ νῦν ἀγαθὸν ὅτι ἔσῃ ἡμῖν ἐν τῇ πόλει βοήθεια τοῦ βοηθεῖν
But his soldiers said, “No, we will not allow you to go with us. If they force us all to run away, they will not be concerned about that happening. Or if they kill half of us, that will also not be what they want. To them, [killing] you is more important than [killing] 10,000 of us. So it will be better that you [stay here] in the city and send help to us.”
4 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ βασιλεύς ὃ ἐὰν ἀρέσῃ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν ποιήσω καὶ ἔστη ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀνὰ χεῖρα τῆς πύλης καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἐξεπορεύετο εἰς ἑκατοντάδας καὶ εἰς χιλιάδας
The king replied, “Okay, I will do whatever seems best to you.” So he stood at the gate [and watched] while his soldiers marched out, group by group.
5 καὶ ἐνετείλατο ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ Ιωαβ καὶ τῷ Αβεσσα καὶ τῷ Εθθι λέγων φείσασθέ μοι τοῦ παιδαρίου τοῦ Αβεσσαλωμ καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἤκουσεν ἐντελλομένου τοῦ βασιλέως πᾶσιν τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ὑπὲρ Αβεσσαλωμ
[While they were leaving, ] the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “For my sake, do not harm my son Absalom!” And all the troops heard it when David gave that order about Absalom to those three commanders.
6 καὶ ἐξῆλθεν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς εἰς τὸν δρυμὸν ἐξ ἐναντίας Ισραηλ καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ πόλεμος ἐν τῷ δρυμῷ Εφραιμ
So the army went out to fight against the Israeli soldiers [who were with Absalom]. They fought the battle in the forest [where people from the tribe] of Ephraim [lived].
7 καὶ ἔπταισεν ἐκεῖ ὁ λαὸς Ισραηλ ἐνώπιον τῶν παίδων Δαυιδ καὶ ἐγένετο ἡ θραῦσις μεγάλη ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ εἴκοσι χιλιάδες ἀνδρῶν
David’s soldiers defeated Absalom’s soldiers. They killed 20,000 of them!
8 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐκεῖ ὁ πόλεμος διεσπαρμένος ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπλεόνασεν ὁ δρυμὸς τοῦ καταφαγεῖν ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ ὑπὲρ οὓς κατέφαγεν ἐν τῷ λαῷ ἡ μάχαιρα ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ
The battle was fought {They fought the battle} all over that area, and the number of men who died because of [dangerous things in] the forest [PRS] was greater than the number of men who were killed (in the battle/by swords).
9 καὶ συνήντησεν Αβεσσαλωμ ἐνώπιον τῶν παίδων Δαυιδ καὶ Αβεσσαλωμ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡμιόνου αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ὁ ἡμίονος ὑπὸ τὸ δάσος τῆς δρυὸς τῆς μεγάλης καὶ ἐκρεμάσθη ἡ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ δρυί καὶ ἐκρεμάσθη ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς γῆς καὶ ὁ ἡμίονος ὑποκάτω αὐτοῦ παρῆλθεν
During the battle, Absalom suddenly came near [some of] David’s soldiers. Absalom was riding on his mule; and when the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak tree, Absalom’s head/hair was caught in the branches. The mule kept going, but Absalom was left dangling in the air.
10 καὶ εἶδεν ἀνὴρ εἷς καὶ ἀνήγγειλεν Ιωαβ καὶ εἶπεν ἰδοὺ ἑώρακα τὸν Αβεσσαλωμ κρεμάμενον ἐν τῇ δρυί
One of David’s soldiers saw what happened, and went and told Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”
11 καὶ εἶπεν Ιωαβ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ἀπαγγέλλοντι καὶ ἰδοὺ ἑόρακας τί ὅτι οὐκ ἐπάταξας αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐγὼ ἂν δεδώκειν σοι δέκα ἀργυρίου καὶ παραζώνην μίαν
Joab said to the man, “What? You say that you saw him hanging there, so why did you not kill him immediately [RHQ]? [If you had killed him, ] I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt!”
12 εἶπεν δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ πρὸς Ιωαβ καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι ἵστημι ἐπὶ τὰς χεῖράς μου χιλίους σίκλους ἀργυρίου οὐ μὴ ἐπιβάλω χεῖρά μου ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ βασιλέως ὅτι ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ἡμῶν ἐνετείλατο ὁ βασιλεὺς σοὶ καὶ Αβεσσα καὶ τῷ Εθθι λέγων φυλάξατέ μοι τὸ παιδάριον τὸν Αβεσσαλωμ
The man replied to Joab, “Even if you gave me 1,000 pieces of silver, I would not have done anything to harm [IDM] the king’s son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake, do not harm my son Absalom!’
13 μὴ ποιῆσαι ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτοῦ ἄδικον καὶ πᾶς ὁ λόγος οὐ λήσεται ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ σὺ στήσῃ ἐξ ἐναντίας
If I had disobeyed the king and killed Absalom, the king would have heard about it, because the king hears about everything, and even you would not have defended me!”
14 καὶ εἶπεν Ιωαβ τοῦτο ἐγὼ ἄρξομαι οὐχ οὕτως μενῶ ἐνώπιόν σου καὶ ἔλαβεν Ιωαβ τρία βέλη ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνέπηξεν αὐτὰ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ Αβεσσαλωμ ἔτι αὐτοῦ ζῶντος ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς δρυὸς
Joab said, “I am not going to waste time talking to you!” Then he took three spears [and went to where Absalom was], and thrust them into Absalom’s chest/heart while he was still alive, dangling from the oak tree.
15 καὶ ἐκύκλωσαν δέκα παιδάρια αἴροντα τὰ σκεύη Ιωαβ καὶ ἐπάταξαν τὸν Αβεσσαλωμ καὶ ἐθανάτωσαν αὐτόν
Then ten young men who carried weapons for Joab surrounded Absalom and [finished] killing him.
16 καὶ ἐσάλπισεν Ιωαβ ἐν κερατίνῃ καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν ὁ λαὸς τοῦ μὴ διώκειν ὀπίσω Ισραηλ ὅτι ἐφείδετο Ιωαβ τοῦ λαοῦ
Then Joab blew his trumpet [to signal that they should not fight any more], and his soldiers returned from pursuing those Israeli soldiers.
17 καὶ ἔλαβεν τὸν Αβεσσαλωμ καὶ ἔρριψεν αὐτὸν εἰς χάσμα μέγα ἐν τῷ δρυμῷ εἰς τὸν βόθυνον τὸν μέγαν καὶ ἐστήλωσεν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν σωρὸν λίθων μέγαν σφόδρα καὶ πᾶς Ισραηλ ἔφυγεν ἀνὴρ εἰς τὸ σκήνωμα αὐτοῦ
They took Absalom’s body and threw it into a huge pit in the forest, and covered it with a huge pile of stones. Then all the remaining Israeli soldiers [who had been with Absalom] fled to their own towns.
18 καὶ Αβεσσαλωμ ἔτι ζῶν καὶ ἔστησεν ἑαυτῷ τὴν στήλην ἐν ᾗ ἐλήμφθη καὶ ἐστήλωσεν αὐτὴν λαβεῖν τὴν στήλην τὴν ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι τοῦ βασιλέως ὅτι εἶπεν οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ υἱὸς ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἀναμνῆσαι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὴν στήλην Χεὶρ Αβεσσαλωμ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης
Absalom had no sons to preserve his [family] name. So, while Absalom was alive, he built a monument to himself in the King’s Valley [near Jerusalem, in order that people would remember him]. He put his name on the monument, and people still call it Absalom’s monument.
19 καὶ Αχιμαας υἱὸς Σαδωκ εἶπεν δράμω δὴ καὶ εὐαγγελιῶ τῷ βασιλεῖ ὅτι ἔκρινεν αὐτῷ κύριος ἐκ χειρὸς τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ
[After Absalom had been killed, ] Zadok’s son Ahimaaz said to Joab, “Allow me to run to the king to tell him the good news that Yahweh has rescued him from the power of his enemies!”
20 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ιωαβ οὐκ ἀνὴρ εὐαγγελίας σὺ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ καὶ εὐαγγελιῇ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἄλλῃ ἐν δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ οὐκ εὐαγγελιῇ οὗ εἵνεκεν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπέθανεν
But Joab said to him, “No, I will not allow you to take news to the king today. Some other day I will allow you to take some news, but not today. [If you took news today it would not be good news for the king, ] because his son is dead.”
21 καὶ εἶπεν Ιωαβ τῷ Χουσι βαδίσας ἀνάγγειλον τῷ βασιλεῖ ὅσα εἶδες καὶ προσεκύνησεν Χουσι τῷ Ιωαβ καὶ ἐξῆλθεν
Then Joab said to David’s servant who was from Ethiopia, “You go and tell the king what you have seen.” So the man from Ethiopia bowed in front of Joab, and started to run.
22 καὶ προσέθετο ἔτι Αχιμαας υἱὸς Σαδωκ καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς Ιωαβ καὶ ἔστω ὅτι δράμω καί γε ἐγὼ ὀπίσω τοῦ Χουσι καὶ εἶπεν Ιωαβ ἵνα τί τοῦτο τρέχεις υἱέ μου δεῦρο οὐκ ἔστιν σοι εὐαγγελία εἰς ὠφέλειαν πορευομένῳ
Then Ahimaaz said again to Joab, “Even though [that man from Ethiopia is running], allow me to run behind him.” Joab replied, “My boy/son, why do you want to do that? You will not receive any reward for your news!”
23 καὶ εἶπεν τί γὰρ ἐὰν δραμοῦμαι καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ιωαβ δράμε καὶ ἔδραμεν Αχιμαας ὁδὸν τὴν τοῦ Κεχαρ καὶ ὑπερέβη τὸν Χουσι
But Ahimaaz replied, “That does not matter, I want to go.” So Joab said, “Okay, go.” So Ahimaaz ran along [another] road through the Jordan Valley and arrived [where David was] before the man from Ethiopia arrived.
24 καὶ Δαυιδ ἐκάθητο ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν δύο πυλῶν καὶ ἐπορεύθη ὁ σκοπὸς εἰς τὸ δῶμα τῆς πύλης πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος καὶ ἐπῆρεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶδεν καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ τρέχων μόνος ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ
David was sitting between the outer gate and the inner gate [of the city]. The watchman/lookout went up on top of the city wall and stood on the roof over the gates. He looked out and saw one man running alone.
25 καὶ ἀνεβόησεν ὁ σκοπὸς καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς εἰ μόνος ἐστίν εὐαγγελία ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπορεύετο πορευόμενος καὶ ἐγγίζων
The watchman called down and reported it to the king. The king said, “If he is alone, [that indicates/means that] he is bringing [good] news.” The man who was running continued to come closer.
26 καὶ εἶδεν ὁ σκοπὸς ἄνδρα ἕτερον τρέχοντα καὶ ἐβόησεν ὁ σκοπὸς πρὸς τῇ πύλῃ καὶ εἶπεν ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ ἕτερος τρέχων μόνος καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς καί γε οὗτος εὐαγγελιζόμενος
Then the watchman saw another man running. So he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look! There is another man running!” And the king said, “He also is bringing [some good] news.”
27 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ σκοπός ἐγὼ ὁρῶ τὸν δρόμον τοῦ πρώτου ὡς δρόμον Αχιμαας υἱοῦ Σαδωκ καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς οὗτος καί γε εἰς εὐαγγελίαν ἀγαθὴν ἐλεύσεται
The watchman said, “I think the first man [must be Ahimaaz, because he] is running like Ahimaaz runs.” The king said, “He is a good man, and [I am sure] he is coming with good news.”
28 καὶ ἐβόησεν Αχιμαας καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εἰρήνη καὶ προσεκύνησεν τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ εἶπεν εὐλογητὸς κύριος ὁ θεός σου ὃς ἀπέκλεισεν τοὺς ἄνδρας τοὺς μισοῦντας τὴν χεῖρα αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ μου τῷ βασιλεῖ
[When] Ahimaaz [reached the king, he] called out “I hope/desire that things will go well with you!” Then he prostrated himself on the ground in front of the king and said, “Your Majesty, praise Yahweh our God, who has rescued you from the men who were rebelling against you!”
29 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς εἰρήνη τῷ παιδαρίῳ τῷ Αβεσσαλωμ καὶ εἶπεν Αχιμαας εἶδον τὸ πλῆθος τὸ μέγα τοῦ ἀποστεῖλαι τὸν δοῦλον τοῦ βασιλέως Ιωαβ καὶ τὸν δοῦλόν σου καὶ οὐκ ἔγνων τί ἐκεῖ
The king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe/all right?” Ahimaaz [did not want to answer that question, so he] replied, “When Joab sent me, I saw that there was a lot of confusion, but I do not know what it was about.”
30 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς ἐπίστρεψον στηλώθητι ὧδε καὶ ἐπεστράφη καὶ ἔστη
Then the king said, “Stand aside.” So Ahimaaz stepped aside and stood there.
31 καὶ ἰδοὺ ὁ Χουσι παρεγένετο καὶ εἶπεν τῷ βασιλεῖ εὐαγγελισθήτω ὁ κύριός μου ὁ βασιλεύς ὅτι ἔκρινέν σοι κύριος σήμερον ἐκ χειρὸς πάντων τῶν ἐπεγειρομένων ἐπὶ σέ
Suddenly the man from Ethiopia arrived, and said, “Your Majesty, I have good news for you! Yahweh has enabled your soldiers to defeat all those who rebelled against you!”
32 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς πρὸς τὸν Χουσι εἰ εἰρήνη τῷ παιδαρίῳ τῷ Αβεσσαλωμ καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Χουσι γένοιντο ὡς τὸ παιδάριον οἱ ἐχθροὶ τοῦ κυρίου μου τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ πάντες ὅσοι ἐπανέστησαν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν εἰς κακά
The king said to him, “Is the young man Absalom safe/all right?” And the man from Ethiopia replied, “Sir, I wish/desire that what happened to him would happen to all of your enemies and to all those who rebel against you!”
33 καὶ ἐταράχθη ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὑπερῷον τῆς πύλης καὶ ἔκλαυσεν καὶ οὕτως εἶπεν ἐν τῷ πορεύεσθαι αὐτόν υἱέ μου Αβεσσαλωμ υἱέ μου υἱέ μου Αβεσσαλωμ τίς δῴη τὸν θάνατόν μου ἀντὶ σοῦ ἐγὼ ἀντὶ σοῦ Αβεσσαλωμ υἱέ μου υἱέ μου
The king [realized that he meant that Absalom was dead, so he] became (extremely distressed/overcome with grief), and he went up to the room above the gateway and cried. While he was going up, he kept crying out, “O, my son Absalom! My son! O, my son Absalom, I desire/wish that I had died instead of you!”
