2 Samuel 18:23

2Sa 18:23 But howsoever, [said he], let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.

Ver. 23. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain.] Which was the nearest way, though farthest about.

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.

AHITHOPHEL’S SUICIDE, 2Sa_18:23.

23. Arose, and gat him home — He was deeply chagrined and mortally offended. He saw, too, that by the neglect of his counsel Absalom’s cause was lost; and for himself, he had gone too far in treason ever to hope for reconciliation with David.

To his city — Giloh. See 2Sa_15:12.

Put his household in order — Or, as margin, gave charge concerning his house; settled up his worldly affairs.

Hanged himself — Like the betrayer of our Lord. Mat_27:5. There are several points of resemblance between Ahithophel and Judas Iscariot. The deep wounding of David’s spirit by the treason of Ahithophel probably occasioned the writing of the forty-first, fifty-fifth, sixty-ninth, and one hundred and ninth Psalms, from one of which (Psa_41:9) the Lord quoted a passage which he interpreted as a prophecy of Judas. Joh_13:18.

Buried in the sepulchre of his, father — “Not like an excommunicated outcast, but like a venerable patriarch.” — Stanley. According to Josephus he hung himself in the inmost room of his house, and his relatives took him down and honoured him with becoming funeral ceremonies. “Ahithophel is not, probably, the first man who hanged himself, but he bears the unenviable distinction of being the first whose hanging himself is recorded; and society would have little reason to complain, if all who have since sentenced themselves to this doom were as worthy of it as this father of self-suspenders. Bishop Hall quaintly remarks of him, that, though mad enough to hang himself, he was wise enough to set his house in order before he did it.” — Kitto.

23. Ran by the way of the plain — He seems to have understood the routes better than Cushi, and also to have been a swifter runner. What plain is here intended is not clear. If the Jordan valley is meant, then the wood of Ephraim must have been somewhere near the river. See note on 2Sa_18:6.

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

by the way of the plain--or ciccar, "circle." This word is only used elsewhere in connection with the valley of the Jordan. It is possible that there may have been a place or region so called on the tablelands of Gilead, as the Septuagint seems to indicate. Or Mahanaim may have been so situated, with the regard to the battlefield, as to be more easily accessible by a descent to the plain of the Jordan, than over the hills themselves. Or the word may signify (as EWALD explains) a manner of quick running [STANLEY].

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

(23) By the way of the plain.—The word used here is generally applied to the valley of the Jordan and hence it has been argued that the battle could not have been fought on the eastern side of the river, since, in that case, Ahimaaz could not have reached Mahanaim by the Jordan valley except by a long and tedious detour. But the word simply means circuit, or surrounding country, and is used in Neh_12:28 for the country about Jerusalem. Here it means that Ahimaaz ran “by the way of the circuit,” i.e., in all probability, by a longer but smoother road than that taken by the Cushite, so that he was able to outrun him.

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

23. by the way of the plain] “The plain” (Heb. kikkar) is the technical term for the floor of the valley through which the Jordan runs. In our ignorance of the exact position of the battlefield, we cannot trace the routes taken by the rival runners with certainty. But in all probability what is meant is that Ahimaaz struck down into the Jordan valley, and ran by a longer but easier route to Mahanaim, while the Cushite took the direct but more difficult route over the hills.

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.

But howsoever (said he) let me run,.... Be it as it may, I beg I may have leave; and being so very importunate, it was granted:

and he said unto him, run; since he would take no denial:

then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi; who ran by the way of the mountains; which though the shorter way, that through the plain was easiest, and soonest run, though the longest.

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

The plain - The floor of the valley through which the Jordan runs. The Cushite did not run by that road, but took the road over the hills, which may well have been the shorter but also the more difficult road. The two roads would probably meet a short distance from Mahanaim. These words, which have been thought to prove that the battle took place on the west of Jordan, are a clear proof that it took place on the east, because if the runners had had to cross the Jordan, they must both have come by the same road, which it is clear they did not.

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

The way of the plain was the smoother and easier, though the longer way.

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

Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain; Hebrew, the kikkar, or Jordan valley. The battle, as we saw in ver. 6, was fought on the eastern side of the river, and Absalom"s army, in their flight, would endeavour to reach the fords of the Jordan; (comp. Jud_1:12:5) and probably Joab had pursued them for some distance before the man found in the thicket the body of the unfortunate Absalom. The large slaughter of twenty thousand men (ver. 7) proves that the defeated rebels were vigorously followed. In carrying the news the negro evidently went back by the route which the troops had followed; while Ahimaaz, using his more developed intellect, took a longer course to the west, but one that avoided the tangles and the deep defiles of the forest. Strictly, the Kikkar, as we have seen, was the name of the Jordan valley near Jericho; but it was probably applicable also to the same sort of formation further north. On approaching Mahanaim, Ahimaaz would strike inland, and the two routes would join one another; and one reason which made Ahimaaz go more to the west was that he did net wish the Cushite to know that he had a rival. He would thus go at a steady pace, picking his way through the forest, while Ahimaaz was using his utmost speed.

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

So what. In other words, so what if I get no reward?

And he passed. [Yonoson translates:] He arrived before the Kushite.

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.