2 Samuel 18:21

Easy-to-Read Version

Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Ethiopian bowed to Joab and ran to tell David.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Joab then said to a Cushite, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

Hebrew Names Version
Then said Yo'av to the Kushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. The Kushite bowed himself to Yo'av, and ran.

King James Version
Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

Lexham English Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen"; then the Cushite bowed down to Joab and ran off.

English Standard Version
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran.

New Century Version
Then Joab said to a man from Cush, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed to Joab and ran to tell David.

New English Translation
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." After bowing to Joab, the Cushite ran off.

Amplified Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite (Ethiopian), "Go, tell the king what you have seen." And the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.

New American Standard Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then said Ioab to Cushi, Goe, tel the king, what thou hast seene. And Cushi bowed himselfe vnto Ioab, and ran.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.

Contemporary English Version
Someone from Ethiopia was standing there, and Joab told him, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." The man knelt down in front of Joab and then got up and started running.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then Yo'av said to the Ethiopian, "Go, tell the king what you saw." The Ethiopian bowed to Yo'av, then ran off.

Darby Translation
Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.

George Lamsa Translation
Then Joab said to Cushi, Go tell the king what you have seen; and he ran.

Good News Translation
Then he said to his Ethiopian slave, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." The slave bowed and ran off.

Literal Translation
And Joab said to Cushi, Go, tell the king that which you have seen. And Cushi bowed to Joab, and ran.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But vnto Chusi sayde Ioab: Go thou thy waye, and tell the kynge what thou hast sene. And Chusi did his obeysauce vnto Ioab, and ranne.

American Standard Version
Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

Bible in Basic English
Then Joab said to the Cushite, Go and give the king word of what you have seen. And the Cushite, making a sign of respect to Joab, went off running.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayd Ioab to Chusi: Go and tell the kyng what thou hast seene. And Chusi bowed him selfe vnto Ioab, and ranne.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said Joab to the Cushite: 'Go tell the king what thou hast seen.' And the Cushite bowed down unto Joab, and ran.

King James Version (1611)
Then said Ioab to Cushi, Goe tell the King what thou hast seene. And Cushi bowed himselfe vnto Ioab, and ranne.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Joab said to Chusi, Go, report to the king all that thou hast seen. And Chusi did obeisance to Joab, and went out.

English Revised Version
Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

Berean Standard Bible
So Joab said to a Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Joab seide to Chusi, Go thou, and telle to the kyng tho thingis that thou hast seyn. Chusi worschypide Joab, and ran.

Young's Literal Translation
And Joab saith to Cushi, `Go, declare to the king that which thou hast seen;' and Cushi boweth himself to Joab, and runneth.

Update Bible Version
Then Joab said to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. And the Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said Joab to Cushi, Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself to Joab, and ran.

World English Bible
Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. The Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.

New King James Version
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed himself to Joab and ran.

New Living Translation
Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, "Go tell the king what you have seen." The man bowed and ran off.

New Life Bible
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.

New Revised Standard
Then Joab said to a Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Joab to a Cushite, Go tell the king, what thou hast seen. And the Cushite bowed himself down to Joab, and ran.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran.

Revised Standard Version
Then Jo'ab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed before Jo'ab, and ran.

THE MESSAGE
Then Joab ordered a Cushite, "You go. Tell the king what you've seen." "Yes sir," said the Cushite, and ran off.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.

Contextual Overview

¹⁹ Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said to Joab, "May I run and take the news to King David? I'll tell him the Lord has destroyed the enemy for him." ²⁰ Joab answered Ahimaaz, "No, you will not carry the message today. You can do it some other time, but not today because it is the king's son who is dead." ²¹ Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Ethiopian bowed to Joab and ran to tell David. ²² But Ahimaaz son of Zadok begged Joab again, "No matter what happens, please let me also run after the Ethiopian!" Joab said, "Son, why do you want to carry the news? You will not get any reward for the news you bring." ²³ Ahimaaz answered, "No matter what happens, I will run to David." Joab said to Ahimaaz, "All right, run to David!" Then Ahimaaz ran through Jordan Valley and passed the Ethiopian. ²⁴ David was sitting between the two gates of the city. The watchman went up to the roof over the gate walls and saw a man running alone. ²⁵ The watchman shouted to tell King David. King David said, "If the man is alone, he is bringing news." The man came closer and closer to the city. ²⁶ But then the watchman saw another man running. He called to the gatekeeper, "Look! Another man is running alone." The king said, "He is also bringing news." ²⁷ The watchman said, "I think the first man runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok." The king said, "Ahimaaz is a good man, he must be bringing good news." ²⁸ Ahimaaz called to the king, "All is well!" Ahimaaz bowed with his face to the ground in front of the king and said, "Praise the Lord your God! The Lord has defeated the men who were against you, my lord and king."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 11:5
Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower.

Genesis 11:7
Let's go down and confuse their language. Then they will not understand each other."

Genesis 18:1
Later, the Lord again appeared to Abraham near the oak trees of Mamre. It was the hottest part of the day, and Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent.

Genesis 18:24
What if there are fifty good people in that city? Will you still destroy it? Surely you will save the city for the fifty good people living there.

Exodus 3:8
Now I will go down and save my people from the Egyptians. I will take them from that land and lead them to a good land where they can be free from these troubles. It is a land filled with many good things. Many different people live in that land: the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Exodus 33:5
This was because the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stubborn people. I might destroy you even if I travel with you only a short time. So take off all your jewelry while I decide what to do with you.'"

Deuteronomy 8:2
And you must remember the entire trip that the Lord your God has led you through these 40 years in the desert. He was testing you. He wanted to make you humble. He wanted to know what is in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands.

Deuteronomy 13:3
Don't listen to them, because the Lord your God is testing you. He wants to know if you love him with all your heart and all your soul.

Joshua 22:22
"The Lord is our God! Again we say that the Lord is our God! And God knows why we did this thing. We want you to know also. You can judge what we did. If you think we did it because we are against the Lord or refuse to obey him, you can kill us today.

Job 34:22
There is no place dark enough for evil people to hide from God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said Joab to Cushi,.... The Ethiopian, or blackamoor; who either was an Ethiopian by birth and proselyted, or he was an Israelite of a black complexion, and therefore so called; and was judged a proper person by the general to carry such dismal news to the king, as he knew it would be. Some Jewish writers a take him to be the same with Cush the Benjaminite, in the title of the seventh psalm, Psalms 7:1; and that he is the same that told Joab he saw Absalom hanging in an oak, and declared that, if a thousand shekels of silver were offered him, he would not have put forth his hand against him, 2 Samuel 18:10; though some think this was one of the ten young men that waited on Joab, and by his orders slew Absalom; but it would have been dangerous for one of these to have carried the tidings, had he been known by David to have done it:

go tell the king what thou hast seen: by which it should seem that he was present when Absalom was killed:

and Cushi bowed himself unto Joab; in reverence to him as his general, and in thankfulness for sending him on this errand:

and ran; as fast as he could.

a Pirke Eliezer, c. 53.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Cushi - “The Cushite,” a foreign slave, perhaps of Joab’s, whom he did not scruple to expose to David’s anger. If, however, it is a name, it must be rendered “Haccushi.” In the title to Psalms 7:0, “Cush, the Benjamite,” cannot mean this Cushi, since the contents of the Psalm are not suitable to this occasion.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 18:21. Tell the king what thou hast seen — At this time the death of Absalom was not publicly known; but Joab had given Cushi private information of it. This Ahimaaz had not, for he could not tell the king whether Absalom were dead. To this Joab seems to refer, 2 Samuel 18:22: "Thou hast no tidings ready."