2 Samuel 15:6

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

In this manner Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Download a study sheet

One document with this verse’s original text, its word-by-word gloss line, the meaning frame, cross-references with their text, attributed commentary, and full source and license credits — printable, and it pastes into notes with its structure intact.

This verse Autodidact and up

Study sheet (.html) Plain text (.txt)

A passage Seminary Student

Up to 50 verses in one chapter. A passage sheet keeps up to 6 commentary sources and 12 cross-references per verse, in the order this page ranks them, and says so on the sheet whenever that leaves anything out. Ask for a single verse and you get the Autodidact verse sheet above.

Everything on this page stays free to read, with no account — the sheet is a download of what is already on screen, not access to it.

Want to remove ads? Support Godless Engineer

Word by word

More ways to search: Search by grammar → Find every occurrence → Compare this word →

Practice this passage: Drill this verse → Learn its vocabulary →

וַיְגַנֵּב֙

gânab

H1589

“and · to steal”

Conjunction + Verb, Piel, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 40× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 30:33

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 364

to steal, steal away, carry away - (Qal) to steal - (Niphal) to be stolen - (Piel) to steal away - (Pual) to be stolen away, be brought by stealth - (Hithpael) to go by stealth, steal away

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 →

17: words
15: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וַיְגַנֵּב֙ to steal H1589 occurs in 36 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
10 nouns
1 pronoun
1 preposition
2 particles

Verb forms

וַיַּ֨עַשׂ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
יָבֹ֥אוּ Qal · Imperfect
וַיְגַנֵּב֙ Piel · Sequential Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

אַבְשָׁל֜וֹם Absalom H53 ×2
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Israel H3478 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 25 words from the Hebrew and 26 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 17 Hebrew tokens and 23 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 15:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Romans 16:18 For those who are such don't serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
2 Peter 2:3 In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn't linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
Proverbs 11:9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But the righteous will be delivered through knowledge.

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 15:6 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיַּ֨עַשׂ אַבְשָׁל֜וֹם כַּדָּבָ֤ר הַזֶּה֙ לְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁר יָבֹ֥אוּ לַמִּשְׁפָּ֖ט אֶל הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַיְגַנֵּב֙ אַבְשָׁל֔וֹם אֶת לֵ֖ב אַנְשֵׁ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

In this manner Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Samuel 15:6 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ποιέω αβεσσαλωμ κατά ὁ ῥῆμα οὗτος πᾶς ἰσραήλ ὁ παραγίγνομαι εἰς κρίσις πρός ὁ βασιλεύς καί ἰδιοποιέω αβεσσαλωμ ὁ καρδία ἀνήρ ἰσραήλ

And Abessalom did after this manner to all Israel that came to the king for judgment; and Abessalom gained the hearts of the men of Israel.

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)

וַעֲבַד אַבְשָׁלוֹם כְּפִתְגָמָא הָדֵין לְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל דְאָתָן לְמִידַן לְוַת מַלְכָּא וְגָנֵב אַבְשָׁלוֹם יַת לִבָּא דֶאֱנָשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל:

(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 15:6 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 15:6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Ver. 6. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel.] Courting them, and colloguing with them all alike, of what degree soever; so basely could this proud wretch stoop, that he might get into the throne. {a}

So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel,] sc., From David the right owner; and this he did slyly and secretly, so as neither the people nor David himself did discover it.

{a} So Salvius Otho, of whom Tacitus saith, Adorare vulgus iacere oscula, et omnia serviliter pro imperio. - Hist. lib. i. One calleth him the Roman Absalom.

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.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

15:6 stole the hearts: Absalom’s accessibility and false pretense of care for the people gained their loyalty.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

By enticing them from his father to himself.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6. So Absalom stole the hearts] His manner of doing this is circumstantially related above. He was thoroughly versed in the arts of the demagogue; and the common people, the vile mass, heard him gladly. He used the patriot's arguments, and was every thing of the kind, as far as promise could go. He found fault with men in power; and he only wanted their place, like all other pretended patriots, that he might act as they did, or worse.

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

6. stole the hearts] Robbed his father of the people’s affection and transferred it to himself. Sept. ἰδιοποιεῖτο = made his own.

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 in this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment,.... Told them there was none to be had, wished that he was in office to administer it to them, and behaved in the above loving manner towards them:

so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel; got the affections of the people in a private and clandestine manner, and robbed the king of them, who had the best right unto them.

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

Stole the hearts - i. e., deceived them, for so the same phrase means Gen 31:20, Gen 31:26.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Enticed. Hebrew, "stole." The people were not aware of his designs. (Calmet) --- Absalom rendered them dissatisfied with the present government, and led them to expect better days, under his administration. (Haydock)

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

i.e. He secretly and subtlety undermined his father, and robbed his father of the good opinions and affections of his people, that he might gain them to himself, by such insinuations into their affections, by his plausible and over-civil carriage.

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

6. Stole the hearts — Insinuated himself into the affections of the people. Not only did the designing measures just mentioned assist him in this, but also his personal beauty. 2Sa_14:25.

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

Absalom stole the hearts. By professing anxiety to devote himself to the hearing and deciding of the people"s causes, by flattering each one with the assurance that his case was so good that it needed only a hearing to be decided in his favour, and by his affability, made the more charming and irresistible by his personal beauty, he won the love of the people almost without their knowing how devoted they had become to him.

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 17 words (15 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is gânab (“to steal”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “to steal” (gânab) contribute to the verse as a whole?
How does Genesis 30:33, which shares the word «to steal», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “Absalom” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
«וַיַּ֨עַשׂ» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 17 Hebrew ↔ 23 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 8 words in this verse.
“Absalom” occurs 2× in this single verse.
15 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 17 words in this verse.