2 Samuel 21:17

Complete Jewish Bible

But Avishai the son of Tz'ruyah came to David's rescue by striking the P'lishti and killing him. Then David's men swore to him, "You must no longer go out with us to battle, in order not to quench the lamp of Isra'el."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him: “You must never again go out with us to battle. You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”

Hebrew Names Version
But Avishai the son of Tzeru'yah helped him, and struck the Pelishti, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall go no more out with us to battle, that you don't quench the lamp of Yisra'el.

King James Version
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.

Lexham English Bible
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and he attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall not go out with us any longer to the battle, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel."

English Standard Version
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, "You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."

New Century Version
but Abishai son of Zeruiah killed the Philistine and saved David's life. Then David's men made a promise to him, saying, "Never again will you go out with us to battle. If you were killed, Israel would lose its greatest leader."

New English Translation
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David's aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David's men took an oath saying, "You will not go out to battle with us again! You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel!"

Amplified Bible
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David's aid, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then David's men swore to him, "You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel."

New American Standard Bible
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, saying, "You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel."

Geneva Bible (1587)
But Abishai the sonne of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistim, and killed him. Then Dauids men sware vnto him, saying, Thou shalt goe no more out with vs to battell, lest thou quench the light of Israel.

Legacy Standard Bible
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and put him to death. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel."

Contemporary English Version
But Abishai came to the rescue and killed the Philistine. David's soldiers told him, "We can't let you risk your life in battle anymore! You give light to our nation, and we want that flame to keep burning."

Darby Translation
And Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.

Easy-to-Read Version
But Abishai son of Zeruiah killed this giant Philistine and saved David's life. Then David's men made him promise that he would not go out to battle anymore. They said, "If you do, Israel might lose its brightest leader."

George Lamsa Translation
But Abishai the son of Zoriah succored him and smote the Philistine and killed him. Then the servants of David swore to him, saying, You shall go out no more with us to battle, that you may not quench the lamp of Israel.

Good News Translation
But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's help, attacked the giant, and killed him. Then David's men made David promise that he would never again go out with them to battle. "You are the hope of Israel, and we don't want to lose you," they said.

Literal Translation
And Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall not again go out with us to battle, that you not cause the lamp of Israel to go out.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Neuertheles Abisai the sonne of Zeru Ia helped him, & smote the Philistyne to death. Then sware Dauids men vnto him, & sayde: Thou shalt nomore go forth with vs vnto the warre, that the lanterne in Israel be not put out.

American Standard Version
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.

Bible in Basic English
But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to his help, and, turning on the Philistine, gave him his death-blow. Then David's men took an oath, and said, Never again are you to go out with us to the fight, so that you may not put out the light of Israel.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But Abisai the sonne of Zaruia succoured him, & smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the seruauntes of Dauid sware vnto him, saying: Thou shalt go no more out with vs to battaile, that thou quenche not the light of Israel.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore unto him, saying: 'Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.'

King James Version (1611)
But Abishai the sonne of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of Dauid sware vnto him, saying, Thou shalt goe no more out with vs to battell, that thou quench not the light of Israel.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Abessa the son of Saruia helped him and smote the Philistine, and slew him. Then the men of David swore, saying, Thou shalt not any longer go out with us to battle, and thou shalt not quench the lamp of Israel.

English Revised Version
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.

Berean Standard Bible
But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, "You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Abisai, sone of Saruye, was in help to Dauid; and he smoot and killide the Filistei. Than the men of Dauid sworen, and seiden, Now thou schalt not go out with vs in to batel, lest thou quenche the lanterne of Israel.

Young's Literal Translation
and Abishai son of Zeruiah giveth help to him, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death; then swear the men of David to him, saying, `Thou dost not go out again with us to battle, nor quench the lamp of Israel.'

Update Bible Version
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall not go out with us to battle anymore, that you do not quench the lamp of Israel.

Webster's Bible Translation
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, Thou shalt go out no more with us to battle, that thou mayest not extinguish the light of Israel.

World English Bible
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall go no more out with us to battle, that you don't quench the lamp of Israel.

New King James Version
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."

New Living Translation
But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's rescue and killed the Philistine. Then David's men declared, "You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?"

New Life Bible
But Zeruiah's son Abishai helped David and killed the Philistine. Then David's men promised him, "You will not go out again with us to battle. You might put out the lamp of Israel."

New Revised Standard
But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, "You shall not go out with us to battle any longer, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
but Abishai son of Zeruiah, came to his help, and smote the Philistine, and slew him. Then, sware the men of David unto him, saying - Thou must not go forth any more with us, to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Abisai the son of Sarvia rescued him, and striking the Philistine killed him. Then David’s men swore unto him saying: Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou put out the lamp of Israel.

Revised Standard Version
But Abi'shai the son of Zeru'iah came to his aid, and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men adjured him, "You shall no more go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel."

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ Once again the P'lishtim made war on Isra'el. David went down with his servants and fought against the P'lishtim, but David began to get tired. ¹⁶ Yishbi-B'nov, one of the sons of the giant, said that he would kill David; his spear weighed seven pounds, and he was wearing new armor. ¹⁷ But Avishai the son of Tz'ruyah came to David's rescue by striking the P'lishti and killing him. Then David's men swore to him, "You must no longer go out with us to battle, in order not to quench the lamp of Isra'el." ¹⁸ A while after this there was again war with the P'lishtim, at Gov. Sibkhai the Hushati killed Saf, one of the sons of the giant. ¹⁹ There was more war with the P'lishtim at Gov; and Elchanan the son of Ya‘arei-Orgim, the Beit-Lachmi, killed Golyat the Gitti, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's beam. ²⁰ There was again war at Gat, where there was a belligerent man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot — twenty-four in all — and he too was a son of the giant. ²¹ When he mocked Isra'el, Y'honatan the son of Shim‘ah David's brother killed him. ²² These four were sons of the giant in Gat; they fell at the hands of David and his servants.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Abishai: 2 Samuel 20:6-10

succoured: 2 Samuel 22:19, Psalms 46:1, Psalms 144:10

Thou shalt: 2 Samuel 18:3

quench: 2 Samuel 14:7, 1 Kings 11:36, 1 Kings 15:4, Psalms 132:17, John 1:8, John 1:9, John 5:35

light: Heb. candle, or lamp

Reciprocal: Exodus 18:23 - and all this Deuteronomy 31:2 - I can no more 1 Chronicles 11:20 - Abishai 1 Chronicles 18:12 - Moreover Jeremiah 40:15 - wherefore Acts 19:30 - the disciples Hebrews 11:34 - escaped

Cross-References

Genesis 15:1
Some time later the word of Adonai came to Avram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Avram. I am your protector; your reward will be very great."

Genesis 16:9
The angel of Adonai said to her, "Go back to your mistress, and submit to her authority."

Genesis 16:11
The angel of Adonai said to her, "Look, you are pregnant, and you will give birth to a son. You are to call him Yishma‘el [God pays attention] because Adonai has paid attention to your misery.

Genesis 21:1
Adonai remembered Sarah as he had said, and Adonai did for Sarah what he had promised.

Genesis 21:2
Sarah conceived and bore Avraham a son in his old age, at the very time God had said to him.

Genesis 21:4
Avraham circumcised his son Yitz'chak when he was eight days old, as God had ordered him to do.

Genesis 21:6
Sarah said, "God has given me good reason to laugh; now everyone who hears about it will laugh with me."

Genesis 21:13
But I will also make a nation from the son of the slave-girl, since he is descended from you."

Genesis 21:14
Avraham got up early in the morning, took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child; then he sent her away. After leaving, she wandered in the desert around Be'er-Sheva.

Genesis 46:3
He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Don't be afraid to go down to Egypt. It is there that I will make you into a great nation.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him,.... Observing him in danger, made haste to his relief:

and smote the Philistine, and killed him; it seems as if Abishai engaged with the Philistine, and killed him; but inasmuch as it will bear to be interpreted of David, and since the four giants here and hereafter mentioned are said to fall by the hand of David and his servants, 2 Samuel 21:22, it may be thought that this man fell by his hand; seeing it is clear that all the rest fell by the hands of his servants:

then the men of David sware unto him; after they had observed the danger he was exposed unto, and how narrowly he escaped with his life:

saying, thou shalt go no more with us to battle; they had persuaded him not to go to the battle with Absalom; they had suffered him to go with them now, he being, no doubt, forward and pressing to it; but now they were resolute, and determined he should never go more:

that thou quench not the light of Israel; signifying that their glory and prosperity depended on his life, and that, should he be taken away, they should be in affliction and adversity, their honour and their happiness would be at an end; the Targum is,

"thou mayest not extinguish the kingdom of Israel,''

the light and glory of it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 21:17. That thou quench not the light of Israel. — David is here considered as the lamp by which all Israel was guided, and without whom all the nation must be involved in darkness. The lamp is the emblem of direction and support. Light is used in this sense by Homer: -

Ουδε τι Πατροκλῳ γενομην φαος, αυδ ' ἑταροισιπ

Τοις αλλοις, οἱ δη πολεες δαμεν Ἑκτορι διῳ.

Iliad, lib. xviii. ver. 102.

"I have neither been a LIGHT to Patroclus nor to his

companions, who have been slain by the noble Hector."