2 Samuel 15:1
◄  2 Samuel 15:1  ►
New International Version (©2011)
In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.

New Living Translation (©2007)
After this, Absalom bought a chariot and horses, and he hired fifty bodyguards to run ahead of him.

English Standard Version (©2001)
After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Now it came about after this that Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men as runners before him.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
After this, Absalom got himself a chariot, horses, and 50 men to run before him.

International Standard Version (©2012)
Sometime later, Absalom acquired a chariot equipped with horses and recruited 50 men to accompany him.

NET Bible (©2006)
Some time later Absalom managed to acquire a chariot and horses, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Soon after this, Absalom acquired a chariot, horses, and 50 men to run ahead of him.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared himself chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

American King James Version
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

American Standard Version
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now after these things Absalom made himself chariots, and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Darby Bible Translation
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared for himself chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

English Revised Version
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

World English Bible
It happened after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass afterwards, that Absalom prepareth for himself a chariot, and horses, and fifty men are running before him;

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-6 David allows Absalom's pomp. Those parents know not what they do, who indulge a proud humour in their children: many young people are ruined by pride. And those commonly are most eager for authority who least understand its duties.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - After this. The Hebrew is a more precise phrase than that on which we have commented on 2 Samuel 10:1 and 2 Sam 13:1, and implies that Absalom began his devices soon after obtaining his liberty. Chariots and horses; Hebrew, a chariot and horses; that is, a chariot for state occasions, in which Absalom rode, while fifty footmen ran at his side. Probably his grandfather Talmai practised similar magnificence at Geshur. In India it is still common for men of rank to be attended by runners on foot, who will keep up with horses or elephants for an incredible distance.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it came to pass after this,.... After the reconciliation of David and Absalom, and the latter was admitted to court again:

that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses; to make himself look grand and respectable among the people; perhaps he got these from his grandfather at Geshur in Syria:

and fifty men to run before him; which added to his pomp and magnificence; and such great personages in later time have had; Nero the Roman emperor never went on a journey with less than a thousand calashes or chariots, and a great number of men that ran before him (c): and this was tacitly setting himself up for king, at least preparing for it, as Adonijah afterwards did in the same way and manner, 1 Kings 1:5.

(c) Suetonius in Vit. Neron. c. 30. Vid. Senecae, Ephesians 87. & 123.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 15

2Sa 15:1-9. Absalom Steals the Hearts of Israel.

1. Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him—This was assuming the state and equipage of a prince. The royal guards, called runners, avant couriers, amounted to fifty (1Ki 1:5). The chariot, as the Hebrew indicates, was of a magnificent style; and the horses, a novelty among the Hebrew people, only introduced in that age as an appendage of royalty (Ps 32:9; 66:12), formed a splendid retinue, which would make him "the observed of all observers."

2 Samuel 15:1 Parallel Commentaries

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Absalom's Conspiracy
1And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, Of what city are you? And he said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. 3And Absalom said to him, See, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear you. …

1 Samuel 8:11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
1 Kings 1:5 Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, "I will be king." So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him.