2 Samuel 18:12

2Sa 18:12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand [shekels] of silver in mine hand, [yet] would I not put forth mine hand against the king’s son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none [touch] the young man Absalom.

Ver. 12. Yet would I not put forth mine hand.] Because it would be as much as my life is worth. How mad, then, are they who for a few paltry shillings part with their precious souls!

“ Hoc Ithacus velit, hoc magno mercentur Achivi. ”

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.

Hebrew, weigh upon mine hand.

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

12. Beware that none touch] Or, Have a care, all of you, of the young man Absalom: lit. as in the margin, whosoever ye be. But the Sept. and Vulg. read for my sake, as in 2Sa_18:5, in place of whosoever.

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.

And the man said unto Joab,.... Disdaining his proposal:

though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand; or such a sum should be offered to me; the Arabic version is a million:

yet would I not put forth my hand against the king's son; to smite him, and slay him:

for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abishai, and Ittai; his three generals:

saying, beware that none touch the young man Absalom; so as to slay him; they were charged to abstain from it themselves, and to watch and observe others, and keep them from doing it.

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

Save. Protestants, "beware that none touch the young man."

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).

Or, take heed what (for so the Hebrew pronoun mi is sometimes used, as Jdg 13:17) ye do with the young man. He expresseth David’s sense, though not his words.

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

12. As the dew falleth — Covering all things, so that nothing on the ground escapes its touch.

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

Though I should receive. The Hebrew text expresses the horror of the man at Joab"s proposal much more vividly than the tame correction of the Massorites admitted into the Authorized Version: "And I, no! weighing in my palm a thousand of silver, I would not put forth my hand against the son of the king."

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

But the man replied, "And I ... not weighing a thousand shekels in my hand ... might not stretch out my hand to the king's son," i.e., I could not do it for a reward of a thousand shekels. This is the meaning of the Chethib ולא; the Masoretes, on the other hand, have substituted ולוּ, which is the reading adopted in most of the ancient versions, and the one preferred by the majority of expositors: "if I weighed ... I would not," etc. But there is no necessity for this alteration, as the Chethib is quite in accordance with the character of the words. "For before our ears the king commanded" (cf. Sa2 18:5): מי שׁמרוּ, "take care whoever (it be) of the boy Absalom." On this use of מי, see Ewald, 104, d., a. The Keri לי is merely a conjecture, notwithstanding the fact that all the versions follow it, and that one of the Codices in Kennicott has לי. "or," continued the man (Sa2 18:13), "should I have acted deceitfully towards his life (i.e., have slain him secretly, which he calls שׁקר, cheating, because it was opposed to the king's open command): and nothing remains hidden from the king; ... thou wouldst have set thyself in opposition to me," i.e., have risen up against me before the king. The middle clause is a circumstantial one, as the fact that וכל־דּבר is placed first clearly shows; so that it cannot be regarded as introducing the apodosis, which really follows in the clause commencing with ואתּה.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

a thousand silver shekels

"1,000 silver shekels." This can be stated in modern units. AT: "1,000 silver coins" or "11 kilograms of silver" (See: Biblical Money and Numbers)

would not have reached out my hand against the king's son

The phrase "reached out my hand" means to attack. AT: "would not have attacked the king's son" (See: Idiom)

No one must touch

Here "touching" refers to "harming." AT: "No none must harm" or "Do not harm" (See: Idiom)

a falsehood

The word "falsehood" can be expressed with a verb phrase. Also, this refers to disobeying the king's command. This can be stated clearly. AT: "doing something that is wrong" or "by disobeying the king" (See: Abstract Nouns and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

there is nothing hidden from the king

Here the man speaks about how the king knows about almost everything that happens as if everything were a physical object he knew the location of. AT: "there is nothing that the king does not know" or "the king hears about everything that happens" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

receive

hand

Absalom

life

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Beware that none harm the young man. Everyone who meets up with him should preserve him.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.