2 Samuel 15:33

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

David said to him, If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me:

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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לְמַשָּֽׂא

massâʼ

H4853

“to/for · burden”

Preposition + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 65× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 23:5

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H5375

TWOT: 1421d , 1421e

Massa = "burden" - load, bearing, tribute, burden, lifting (noun masculine) - load, burden - lifting, uplifting, that to which the soul lifts itself up - bearing, carrying - tribute, that which is carried or brought or borne - utterance, oracle, burden (noun masculine) - a son of Ishmael (noun proper masculine)

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 →

9: words
8: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
2 nouns
3 prepositions
1 conjunction

Verb forms

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר Qal · Sequential Imperfect
עָבַ֣רְתָּ Qal · Perfect
וְהָיִ֥תָ Qal · Perfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 18 words from the Hebrew and 20 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 9 Hebrew tokens and 15 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.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 2 Samuel 15:33 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

2 Samuel 19:35 I am this day eighty years old: can I discern between good and bad? can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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 15:33 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ דָּוִ֑ד אִ֚ם עָבַ֣רְתָּ אִתִּ֔י וְהָיִ֥תָ עָלַ֖י לְמַשָּֽׂא

David said to him, If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me:

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Samuel 15:33 Septuagint · lemma form

καί εἶπον αὐτός δαυίδ ἐάν μέν διαβαίνω μετά ἐγώ καί εἰμί ἐπί ἐγώ εἰς βάσταγμα

And David said to him, If you should go over with me, then will you be a burden to me;

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)

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.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ דָוִד אִם עֲבַרְתָּא עִמִי וּתְהֵי עָלַי לְמָטוּל:

(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 15:33 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 15:33 Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me:

Ver. 33. Thou shalt be a burden unto me.] For at this time David was, as Henry king of Navarre was wont to say of himself, a king without a kingdom, a husband without a wife, and a soldier without money.

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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

2Sa 15:33. If thou passest on with me, thou shalt be a burden, &c. — For he was not provided, it seems, with sufficient support for his own family; and Hushai, though famous as a counsellor in the cabinet, being unpractised in the camp, and no soldier, could not be so useful to him in the army as he might be at court. David therefore, conceives the idea of employing him in endeavouring to defeat or render abortive the counsel of Ahithophel.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 33. Then thou shalt be a burden unto me.] It appears that Hushai was not a warrior, but was a wise, prudent, and discreet man, who could well serve David by gaining him intelligence of Absalom's conspiracy; and he directs him to form a strict confederacy with the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and to make use of their sons as couriers between Jerusalem and David's place of retreat.

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

33. unto whom David said] And David said unto him.

a burden unto me] Perhaps Hushai was old and somewhat infirm. Cp. ch. 2Sa_19:35.

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

Unto whom David said,.... After he had heard what he had to say, and what tidings he brought:

and if thou passest on with me; in his march and flight:

then thou shalt be a burden to me; being to be maintained by him; and David having but scanty provisions, and so could not receive useless persons, as Hushai might be, perhaps an old man, that could be of no service to him, and unfit for travelling, and so would rather be an hinderance than an help unto him.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

CHAPTER XV.

To me, as he was perhaps advanced in years, though very prudent. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Increasing my charge, and care, and sorrow for what may befall thee, and being but of little use to me: for it may seem he was an old man, and fitter for counsel than for war.

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

33. A burden — From which we infer that Hushai was now an old man Compare 2Sa_19:35.

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

A burden unto me. Host likely because Hushai was old and infirm. Others, with less probability, think that it was because of his rank, which would demand special attendance.

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 9 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is massâʼ (“burden”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word massâʼ carries the sense “burden.” How does it shape the verse?
How does 2 Samuel 19:35, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«וַיֹּ֥אמֶר» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 9 Hebrew ↔ 15 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 8 words in this verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 9 words in this verse.