2 Samuel 15 · Verse 8

2 Samuel 15:8

For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.
2 Samuel 15:8, King James Version

2 Samuel 15:8 in other translations

BSBFor your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”
WEBFor your servant vowed a vow while I stayed at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the LORD shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.’”
ASVFor thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If Jehovah shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Jehovah.
YLTfor a vow hath thy servant vowed in my dwelling in Geshur, in Aram, saying, If Jehovah doth certainly bring me back to Jerusalem, then I have served Jehovah.'
DARBYFor thy servant vowed a vow while I abode in Geshur in Syria, saying, If Jehovah shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve Jehovah.
BBEFor while I was living in Geshur in Aram, your servant made an oath, saying, If ever the Lord lets me come back to Jerusalem, I will give him worship in Hebron.
WebsterFor thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.

What does 2 Samuel 15:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 15:7-9

7-9. after forty years--It is generally admitted that an error has here crept into the text, and that instead of "forty," we should read with the Syriac and Arabic versions, and Josephus, "four years"--that is, after Absalom's return to Jerusalem, and his beginning to practice the base arts of gaining popularity. my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord--during his exile in Geshur. The purport of it was, that…

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 15:7-9 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 While I abode at Geshur in Syria - Geshur, the country of Talmai, was certainly not in Syria, but lay on the south of Canaan, in or near Edom, as is evident from Jdg 1:10; 1Sam 27:8; 2Sam 13:37. Hence it is probable that ארם Aram, Syria, is a mistake for אדם Edom; ד daleth and ר resh being easily interchangeable. Edom is the reading both of the Syriac and Arabic. I will serve the Lord - Here he pretended to be a strict follower of Jehovah, even while he was in a heathen country; and now he desires liberty to go and perform a vow at Hebron, which he pretends to have made while he was resident at Geshur. And all this was the more perfectly to organize his system of rebellion against his venerable father.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel 15:7-12

See how willing tender parents are to believe the best concerning their children. But how easy and how wicked is it, for children to take advantage of good parents, and to deceive them with the show of religion! The principal men of Jerusalem joined Absalom's feast upon his sacrifice. Pious persons are glad to see others appear religious, and this gives occasion for deceptions. The policy of wicked men, and the…

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 15:7-12 →

2 Samuel 15:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּי\־ki-forH3588
נֵ֙דֶר֙ne.dera vowH5088
נָדַ֣רna.Darhe vowedH5087
עַבְדְּךָ֔'av.de.Khaservant yourH5650
בְּשִׁבְתִּ֥יbe.shiv.Tiwhen dwelt IH3427
בִגְשׁ֛וּרvig.Shurat GeshurH1650
בַּאֲרָ֖םba.'a.Ramin AramH758
לֵאמֹ֑רle.Mor<to> sayingH559
אִם\־'im-ifH518
יָשׁ֨וֹבye.shovcertainly <to dwell>H3427
יְשִׁיבֵ֤נִיye.shi.Ve.nihe will bring back meH7725
יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahwehH3068
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םye.Ru.sha.LimJerusalemH3389
וְעָבַדְתִּ֖יve.'a.vad.Tiand I will serveH5647
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
יְהוָֽהYah.wehYahwehH3068
בְּחֶבְרוֹן\׃be.chev.Ronin HebronH2275

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Samuel 15:8

  • 2 Samuel 13:37-38

    But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.

  • Genesis 28:20-21

    And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:

  • Jeremiah 9:3-5

    And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord. Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

  • 1 Samuel 1:11

    And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

  • 2 Samuel 14:23

    So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

  • Jeremiah 42:20

    For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

  • Joshua 24:15

    And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

  • 1 Samuel 16:2

    And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.

  • Isaiah 28:15

    Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

  • 2 Samuel 14:32

    And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king’s face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

  • Psalms 56:12

    Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

  • Ecclesiastes 5:4

    When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
thy servant.
Ge 28:20,21; 1Sa 1:11; 16:2; Ps 56:12; Ec 5:4
Geshur.
13:37,38; 14:23,32
I will serve.
Jos 24:15; Isa 28:15; Jer 9:3-5; 42:20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Samuel 15:7

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 15:8

    For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.

  • 2 Samuel 15:9

    And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron.

Read all of 2 Samuel 15

2 Samuel 15:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Porque tu siervo hizo voto cuando estaba en Gessur en Siria, diciendo: Si Jehová me volviere á Jerusalem, yo serviré á Jehová.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Car ton serviteur voua un vœu, quand je demeurais à Gueshur, en Syrie, disant: Si l’ Éternel me fait retourner à Jérusalem, je servirai l’ Éternel.
German
Elberfelder 1871
denn als ich zu Gesur in Syrien wohnte, tat dein Knecht ein Gelübde und sprach: Wenn Jehova mich wirklich nach Jerusalem zurückbringt, so will ich Jehova dienen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Vovens enim vovit servus tuus cum esset in Gessur Syriæ, dicens: Si reduxerit me Dominus in Jerusalem, sacrificabo Domino.