2 Samuel 18 · Verse 6

2 Samuel 18:6

So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
2 Samuel 18:6, King James Version

2 Samuel 18:6 in other translations

BSBSo David’s army marched into the field to engage Israel in the battle, which took place in the forest of Ephraim.
WEBSo the people went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim.
ASVSo the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim.
YLTAnd the people goeth out into the field to meet Israel, and the battle is in a forest of Ephraim;
DARBYAnd the people went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim.
BBESo the people went out into the field against Israel, and the fight took place in the woods of Ephraim.
WebsterSo the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;

What does 2 Samuel 18:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. wood of Ephraim--This wood, of course, was on the east of Jordan. Its name was derived, according to some, from the slaughter of the Ephraimites by Jephthah--according to others, from the connection of blood with the trans-jordanic Manasseh.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel 18:1-8

David's over-sorrow. (19-33) Verses 1-8 How does David render good for evil! Absalom would have only David smitten; David would have only Absalom spared. This seems to be a resemblance of man's wickedness towards God, and God's mercy to man, of which it is hard to say which is most amazing. Now the Israelites see what it is to take counsel against the Lord and his anointed.

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 18:1-8 →

2 Samuel 18:6 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.

וַיֵּצֵ֥אvai.ye.Tze'and it went outH3318
הָעָ֛םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
הַשָּׂדֶ֖הha.sa.Dehthe fieldH7704
לִקְרַ֣אתlik.Ratto meetH7122
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
וַתְּהִ֥יva.te.Hiand it wasH1961
הַמִּלְחָמָ֖הha.mil.cha.Mahthe battleH4421
בְּיַ֥עַרbe.Ya.'arin [the] forest ofH3293
אֶפְרָֽיִם\׃'ef.Ra.yimEphraimH669

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

Cross references for 2 Samuel 18:6

  • Joshua 17:18

    But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.

  • Joshua 17:15

    And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

  • Judges 12:4-6

    Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay; Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
wood of Ephraim.The wood of Ephraim was evidently beyond Jordan, and apparently not far from Mahanaim; and it is supposed to be the place where the Ephraimites were slain by Jephthah.
Jos 17:15,18; Jud 12:4-6

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

Context

  • 2 Samuel 18:5

    And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.

  • 2 Samuel 18:6

    So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;

  • 2 Samuel 18:7

    Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.

Read all of 2 Samuel 18

2 Samuel 18:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Salió pues el pueblo al campo contra Israel, y dióse la batalla en el bosque de Ephraim;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et le peuple sortit dans la campagne à la rencontre d’Israël; et la bataille eut lieu dans la forêt d’Éphraïm.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und das Volk zog aus ins Feld, Israel entgegen; und die Schlacht fand statt im Walde Ephraim.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Itaque egressus est populus in campum contra Israël, et factum est prælium in saltu Ephraim.