2 Samuel 10:14

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) 2 Samuel 10:14 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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2 Samuel 10:14 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/2-samuel/10/14.

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English Translation
When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
World English Bible · Public Domain
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And the sons of Ammon saw that Aram had fled, and they fled from the face of Abishai, and they entered the city. Then Joab returned from against the sons of Ammon, and he came Jerusalem.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon sawe that the Aramites fled, they fled also before Abishai, and entred into the citie. so Ioab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Ierusalem.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were fled, they fled also before Abisai, and entered into the city: and Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    and the Bene-Ammon have seen that Aram hath fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go in to the city; and Joab turneth back from the Bene-Ammon, and cometh in to Jerusalem.
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    and the sons of Ammon have seen that Aram has fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go into the city; and Joab turns back from the sons of Ammon, and comes to Jerusalem.
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    When the army of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and went back into the city. Then Joab returned from the people of Ammon and went back to Jerusalem.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And the sons of Ammon saw that Aram had fled, and they fled from the face of Abishai, and they entered the city. Then Joab returned from against the sons of Ammon, and he came Jerusalem.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians fled, they fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. And Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had run away, they also ran away from Abishai, and retreated into the town. So Joab went back to Jerusalem after fighting the Ammonites.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon saw the flight of the Aramaeans, they themselves went in flight from Abishai, and came into the town. So Joab went back from fighting the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    And when the children of Ammon saw that the Arameans were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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אֲבִישַׁ֔י
ʼĂbîyshay
H52
“Abishai”
Noun, Proper
Part of Speech
Noun
Type
Proper
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H1 and H7862

TWOT: None

Abishai = "my father is Jesse" or " my father is a gift" - grandson of Jesse, nephew of David via his sister Zeruiah, brother of Joab
  1. וּבְנֵ֨י bên H1121 “and · sons of” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  2. עַמּ֤וֹן ʻAmmôwn H5983 “Ammon” Noun, Proper
  3. רָאוּ֙ râʼâh H7200 “to see” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural
  4. כִּי kîy H3588 “that” Conjunction
  5. נָ֣ס nûwç H5127 “to flee” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  6. אֲרָ֔ם ʼĂrâm H758 “Aram” Noun, Proper
  7. וַיָּנֻ֨סוּ֙ nûwç H5127 “and · to flee” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  8. מִפְּנֵ֣י pânîym H6440 “from · face(s) of” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Plural, Construct
  9. וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ bôwʼ H935 “and · to enter” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  10. הָעִ֑יר ʻîyr H5892 “the · city” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  11. וַיָּ֣שָׁב shûwb H7725 “and · to return” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  12. יוֹאָ֗ב Yôwʼâb H3097 “Joab” Noun, Proper
  13. מֵעַל֙ ʻal H5921 “from · upon” Preposition + Preposition
  14. בְּנֵ֣י bên H1121 “sons of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  15. עַמּ֔וֹן ʻAmmôwn H5983 “Ammon” Noun, Proper
  16. וַיָּבֹ֖א bôwʼ H935 “and · to enter” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  17. יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם Yᵉrûwshâlaim H3389 “Jerusalem” Noun, Proper

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

18
words
14
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is אֲבִישַׁ֔י Abishai H52 — appearing just 25 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

אֲבִישַׁ֔י Abishai H52 occurs in 24 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 6 verbs
  • 10 nouns
  • 1 preposition
  • 1 conjunction

Verb forms

  • רָאוּ֙ Qal · Perfect
  • נָ֣ס Qal · Perfect
  • וַיָּנֻ֨סוּ֙ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַיָּ֣שָׁב Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַיָּבֹ֖א Qal · Sequential Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • וּבְנֵ֨י son H1121 ×2
  • עַמּ֤וֹן Ammon H5983 ×2
  • נָ֣ס to flee H5127 ×2
  • וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ to enter H935 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 33 words from the Hebrew and 34 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 18 Hebrew tokens and 29 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Samuel 10:14 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וּבְנֵ֨י עַמּ֤וֹן רָאוּ֙ כִּי נָ֣ס אֲרָ֔ם וַיָּנֻ֨סוּ֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י אֲבִישַׁ֔י וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ הָעִ֑יר וַיָּ֣שָׁב יוֹאָ֗ב מֵעַל֙ בְּנֵ֣י עַמּ֔וֹן וַיָּבֹ֖א יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם

When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Samuel 10:14 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ὁ υἱός αμμων ὁράω ὅτι φεύγω συρία καί φεύγω ἀπό πρόσωπον αβεσσα καί ἐιςἔρχομαι εἰς ὁ πόλις καί ἀναστρέφω ιωαβ ἀπό ὁ υἱός αμμων καί παραγίγνομαι εἰς ἰερουσαλήμ

And the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, and they fled from before Abessa, and entered into the city: and Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

1

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)
    וּבְנֵי עַמוֹן חֲזוֹ אֲרֵי אַפָכוּ אֱנַשׁ אֲרָם וַעֲרָקוּ מִן קֳדָם אֲבִישַׁי וַאֲתוֹ לְקַרְתָּא וְתַב יוֹאָב מִלְוַת בְנֵי עַמוֹן וַאֲתָא לִירוּשְׁלֵם:

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 2 Samuel 10:14 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

2Sa 10:14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

Ver. 14. And entered into the city.] See 2Sa 10:8.

So Joab returned from the children of Ammon.] As purposing to take another and a fitter time to deal with them. {a}

{a} Ut macul in priori bello inustam delerent.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

So Joab returned and came to Jerusalem--Probably the season was too far advanced for entering on a siege.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 14. The Syrians were fled] They betook themselves to their own confines, while the Ammonites escaped into their own city.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) Came to Jerusalem.—Why the victory was not at once followed up it is not said. Perhaps the army of Israel was too much exhausted by their victory; perhaps they were unprovided with the necessaries for a siege; and perhaps the season was already too far advanced. Whatever may have been the cause, the delay gave the allies opportunity to rally.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

14. then fled they also] The rout of their allies left Joab free to help Abishai, and the Ammonites retired at once within the walls of the city.

So Joab returned] He did not attempt a siege, most likely because the season was too far advanced. Cp. ch. 2Sa_11:1.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled,.... In whom they put great confidence:

then they fled also before Abishai; without engaging at all with him, as it seems:

and entered into the city; out of which they came, either Rabbah or Medeba, for their safety:

so Joab returned from the children of Ammon; did not stay to lay siege to their city, the season of the year not being proper for it, winter drawing near; see Sa2 11:1,

and came to Jerusalem; in triumph, to report to David the victory he had obtained.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Joab returned - The great strength of Rabbah made it hopeless to take it by assault, and the Syrians were not sufficiently broken 2Sa 10:15 to make it safe to undertake a regular siege.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

That the Syrians were fled; in whose numbers and prowess they had the most confidence.

Joab returned from the children of Ammon; not judging it convenient or safe to pursue them, because the forces were not utterly ruined, but only dispersed and put to flight, and so might easily rally together.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

14. The children of Ammon… entered… the city — Retreated from before the gates of Rabbah, (2Sa_10:8,) and fortified themselves within the capital.

Joab returned… to Jerusalem — Deeming it unwise to lay siege to Rabbah at that time. Compare 2Sa_11:1.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

So Joab returned. It seems strange to us that Joab should have made no attempt to follow up his victory. But as the Ammonites were posted close to the gate of their city, they would withdraw into it without less as soon as they learned that their allies were defeated. There was thus the certainty of a long siege before Rabbah could be taken. We gather from 2Sa_11:1 that it was late in the year when Joab won this victory, and it was part of the weakness of ancient warfare that a long campaign was beyond the power of either side.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Samuel, in the Historical, opens this verse with 18 words (14 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ʼĂbîyshay (“Abishai”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. How does “Abishai” (ʼĂbîyshay) shape what this verse is saying?
  2. How does 1 Samuel 26:6, which shares the word «Abishai», read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “son” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  4. These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
  5. «רָאוּ֙» is a Qal Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

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