2 Samuel 15:19

Contemporary English Version

David spoke to Ittai and said, "You're a foreigner from the town of Gath. You don't have to leave with us. Go back and join the new king!

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The king said to Ittai of Gath, “Why are you also going with us? Go back and stay with the new king since you’re both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.

Hebrew Names Version
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why go you also with us? return, and abide with the king: for you are a foreigner, and also an exile; [return] to your own place.

King James Version
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.

Lexham English Bible
The king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why are you also coming with us? Return and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner; moreover, you are an exile. You are far from your place.

English Standard Version
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home.

New Century Version
The king said to Ittai, a man from Gath, "Why are you also going with us? Turn back and stay with King Absalom because you are a foreigner. This is not your homeland.

New English Translation
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you come with us? Go back and stay with the new king, for you are a foreigner and an exile from your own country.

Amplified Bible
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you go with us, too? Go back and stay with the king [of your own country], for you are a foreigner and an exile as well; return to your own place.

New American Standard Bible
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you go with us too? Return and stay with your king, since you are a foreigner and an exile as well; return to your own place.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then sayde the King to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore commest thou also with vs? Returne aud abide with the King, for thou art a stranger: depart thou therefore to thy place.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then the king said to Ittai the Gitti, "You too? Why are you going with us? Go back, and stay with your king, since you are both a foreigner and in exile from your own place.

Darby Translation
And the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why dost thou also go with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king; for thou art a foreigner, and besides, thou hast emigrated to the place where thou [dwellest].

Easy-to-Read Version
The king said to Ittai from Gath, "Why are you also going with us? You are a foreigner; this is not your homeland. Go back and stay with the new king.

George Lamsa Translation
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you also go with us? Depart from the king; for you are a stranger, and also you were brought captive from your country.

Good News Translation
and the king said to Ittai, their leader, "Why are you going with us? Go back and stay with the new king. You are a foreigner, a refugee away from your own country.

Literal Translation
And the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you go, even you with us? Turn back and remain with the king, for you are an alien, and also you are an exile. Go to your place.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the kynge sayde vnto Ithai ye Gethite: Why goest thou also with vs? Turne backe, and byde with the kynge, for thou art a straunger: get the hence agayne vnto thy place.

American Standard Version
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return, and abide with the king: for thou art a foreigner, and also an exile; return to thine own place.

Bible in Basic English
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why are you coming with us? go back and keep with the king: for you are a man of another country, you are far from the land of your birth.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde the king to Ithai the Gethite: Wherfore commest thou with vs? Returne, and abyde with the king, for thou art a straunger, depart therfore to thy place.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite: 'Wherefore goest thou also with us? return, and abide with the king; for thou art a foreigner, and also an exile from thine own place.

King James Version (1611)
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with vs? Returne to thy place, and abide with the King: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the king said to Ethi, the Gittite, Why dost thou also go with us? return, and dwell with the king, for thou art a stranger, and thou has come forth as a sojourner out of thy place.

English Revised Version
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile; [return] to thine own place.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the kyng seide to Ethai of Geth, Whi comest thou with vs? Turne thou ayen, and dwelle with the kyng, for thou art a pilgrym, and thou yedist out fro thi place.

Young's Literal Translation
And the king saith unto Ittai the Gittite, `Why dost thou go -- thou also -- with us? turn back -- and abide with the king, for thou [art] a stranger, and also an exile thou -- to thy place.

Update Bible Version
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you also go with us? return, and abide with the king: for you are a foreigner, and also an exile; [return] to your own place.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king; for thou [art] a stranger, and also an exile.

World English Bible
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why go you also with us? return, and abide with the king: for you are a foreigner, and also an exile; [return] to your own place.

New King James Version
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why are you also going with us? Return and remain with the king. For you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own place.

New Living Translation
Then the king turned and said to Ittai, a leader of the men from Gath, "Why are you coming with us? Go on back to King Absalom, for you are a guest in Israel, a foreigner in exile.

New Life Bible
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why do you go with us also? Return and stay with the king. For you are from another land and have been driven from your home.

New Revised Standard
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why are you also coming with us? Go back, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile from your home.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said the king, unto Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore shouldest, thou also, go with us? return and abide with the king, for, a stranger, art thou, moreover also, an exile, art thou from thine own country.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king said to Ethai the Gethite: Why comest thou with us: return and dwell with the king, for thou art a stranger, and art come out of thy own place.

Revised Standard Version
Then the king said to It'tai the Gittite, "Why do you also go with us? Go back, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile from your home.

THE MESSAGE
The king called out to Ittai the Gittite, "What are you doing here? Go back with King Absalom. You're a stranger here and freshly uprooted from your own country. You arrived only yesterday, and am I going to let you take your chances with us as I live on the road like a gypsy? Go back, and take your family with you. And God's grace and truth go with you!"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place.

Contextual Overview

¹³ A messenger came and told David, "Everyone in Israel is on Absalom's side!" ¹⁴ David's officials were in Jerusalem with him, and he told them, "Let's get out of here! We'll have to leave soon, or none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry! If he moves fast, he could catch us while we're still here. Then he will kill us and everyone else in the city." ¹⁵ The officials said, "Your Majesty, we'll do whatever you say." ¹⁶David left behind ten of his wives to take care of the palace, but the rest of his family and his officials and soldiers went with him. They stopped at the last house at the edge of the city. ¹⁸ Then David stood there and watched while his regular troops and his bodyguards marched past. The last group was the six hundred soldiers who had followed him from Gath. Their commander was Ittai. ¹⁹ David spoke to Ittai and said, "You're a foreigner from the town of Gath. You don't have to leave with us. Go back and join the new king! ²⁰ You haven't been with me very long, so why should you have to follow me, when I don't even know where I'm going? Take your soldiers and go back. I pray that the Lord will be kind and faithful to you." ²¹ Ittai answered, "Your Majesty, just as surely as you and the Lord live, I will go where you go, no matter if it costs me my life." ²² "Then come on!" David said. So Ittai and all his men and their families walked on past David. ²³ The people of Jerusalem were crying and moaning as David and everyone with him passed by. He led them across Kidron Valley and along the road toward the desert.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ittai: 2 Samuel 18:2, Ruth 1:11-13

Reciprocal: Ruth 1:15 - return 2 Samuel 6:10 - Gittite 2 Samuel 15:18 - Gittites 2 Kings 2:2 - Tarry here Zechariah 8:23 - We will John 6:67 - Will

Cross-References

Genesis 15:21
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite,.... Who was over the band of Gittites, the six hundred men, 2 Samuel 15:22;

wherefore goest thou also with us? one should think the king should not have discouraged any from joining and following him, when his numbers were not very large, and the in such fear on account of Absalom:

return to this place; to Jerusalem, where his station was:

and abide with the king; with Absalom, who set himself up for king, and whom the people perhaps had proclaimed as such in Hebron, where the conspiracy began:

for thou [art] a stranger, and also an exile; not a native of Israel, but of another nation, and at a distance from it, and therefore not altogether under the same obligations to attend David in his troubles as others were; and by this it seems that he was a Gittite by nation, whatever the six hundred men were, and rather favours the first sense given of them in 2 Samuel 15:18.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 15:19. Thou art a stranger, and also an exile. — Some suppose that Ittai was the son of Achish, king of Gath, who was very much attached to David, and banished from his father's court on that account. He and his six hundred men are generally supposed to have been proselytes to the Jewish religion.