Lectionary Calendar
Monday, April 28th, 2025
the Second Week after Easter
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

2 Samuel 5:6

David and his men immediately set out for Jerusalem to take on the Jebusites, who lived in that country. But they said, "You might as well go home! Even the blind and the lame could keep you out. You can't get in here!" They had convinced themselves that David couldn't break through.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - David;   Jebusites;   Jerusalem;   Siege;   Zion;   Thompson Chain Reference - Jerusalem;   Sieges;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Jerusalem;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Araunah;   Canaanites;   Jerusalem;   Joab;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Benjamin;   David;   Israel;   Jebusites;   Jerusalem;   Zion;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Devote, Devoted;   Psalms, Theology of;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Canaanites;   Fenced Cities;   Jerusalem;   Joab;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Fenced Cities;   Jebus;   Jerusalem;   Jonathan;   Judges, the Book of;   Zion;   Holman Bible Dictionary - City of David;   Jerusalem;   Lame, Lameness;   Samuel, Books of;   Temple of Jerusalem;   Tribes of Israel, the;   Zion;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - City;   Israel;   Jebus, Jebusites;   Jerusalem;   Samuel, Books of;   Solomon;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Fortress;   Jebusites ;   Jerusalem ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Jebus;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Jeb'usites;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Division of the Earth;   Jebus;   Jerusalem;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Fortification;   Jebus;   Joab;   Lame;   Samuel, Books of;   Siege;   Zion;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Benjamin;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Blind, the, in Law and Literature;   Jebusites;   Samuel, Books of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”
Hebrew Names Version
The king and his men went to Yerushalayim against the Yevusi, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, Except you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here; thinking, David can't come in here.
King James Version
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
Lexham English Bible
The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot come here.'"
English Standard Version
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, "You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off"—thinking, "David cannot come in here."
New Century Version
When the king and his men went to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites who lived there, the Jebusites said to David, "You can't get inside our city. Even the blind and the crippled can stop you." They thought David could not enter their city.
New English Translation
Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites said to David, "You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!'"
Amplified Bible
Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, "You shall not enter here, for the blind and the lame [even the weakest among us] will turn you away"; they thought, "David cannot come in here [because the walls are impenetrable]."
New American Standard Bible
Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land; and they said to David, "You shall not come in here, but even those who are blind and those who limp will turn you away," thinking, "David cannot enter here."
Geneva Bible (1587)
The King also and his men went to Ierusalem vnto the Iebusites, the inhabitants of the land: who spake vnto Dauid, saying, Except thou take away the blinde and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking that Dauid coulde not come thither.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to David, "You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away"; thinking, "David cannot enter here."
Contemporary English Version
The Jebusites lived in Jerusalem, and David led his army there to attack them. The Jebusites did not think he could get in, so they told him, "You can't get in here! We could run you off, even if we couldn't see or walk!"
Complete Jewish Bible
The king and his men went to Yerushalayim to attack the Y'vusi, the inhabitants of that region. They taunted David, "You won't get in here! Even the blind and the lame could fend you off!" — in other words, they were thinking, "David will never get in here."
Darby Translation
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land; and they spoke to David, saying, Thou shalt not come in hither, but the blind and the lame will drive thee back; as much as to say, David will not come in hither.
Easy-to-Read Version
The king and his men went to fight against the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites said to David, "You cannot come into our city. Even our blind and crippled people can stop you." (They said this because they thought that David would not be able to enter into their city.
George Lamsa Translation
And King David and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, You shall not come in here, except you destroy both the blind and the lame; and they said, David cannot come in here.
Good News Translation
The time came when King David and his men set out to attack Jerusalem. The Jebusites, who lived there, thought that David would not be able to conquer the city, and so they said to him, "You will never get in here; even the blind and the crippled could keep you out."
Literal Translation
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, those dwelling in the land. And one spoke to David, saying, You shall not come in here except the blind and the lame will turn you away, saying, David cannot come in here.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the kynge wente with his men to Ierusalem, agaynst the Iebusites, which dwelt in the londe. Neuertheles they sayde vnto Dauid: Thou shalt not come hither but the blynde and lame shal dryue ye awaie. (They thoughte planely, that Dauid shulde not come in.)
American Standard Version
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither; thinking, David cannot come in hither.
Bible in Basic English
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the people of the land: and they said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind and the feeble-footed will keep you out; for they said, David will not be able to come in here.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The king also and his men went to Hierusalem vnto the Iebusites the inhabitauntes of the lande, whiche spake vnto Dauid, saying: Except thou take away the blinde and the lame, thou shalt not come in hyther: For they said, Thou art not able to come in hyther.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke unto David, saying: 'Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither'; thinking: 'David cannot come in hither.'
King James Version (1611)
And the king and his men went to Ierusalem, vnto the Iebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake vnto Dauid, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: Thinking, Dauid cannot come in hither.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And David and his men, departed to Jerusalem, to the Jebusite that inhabited the land: and it was said to David, Thou shalt not come in hither: for the blind and the lame withstood him, saying, David shall not come in hither.
English Revised Version
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
Berean Standard Bible
Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: "You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you." For they thought, "David cannot get in here."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the kyng yede, and alle men that weren with hym, in to Jerusalem, to Jebusey, dweller of the lond. And it was seide of hem to Dauid, Thou schalt not entre hidur, no but thou do awei blynde men and lame, seiynge, Dauid schal not entre hydur.
Young's Literal Translation
And the king goeth, and his men, to Jerusalem, unto the Jebusite, the inhabitant of the land, and they speak to David, saying, `Thou dost not come in hither, except thou turn aside the blind and the lame;' saying, `David doth not come in hither.'
Update Bible Version
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, Except you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here; thinking, David can't come in here.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: who spoke to David, saying, Except thou shalt take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
World English Bible
The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, Except you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here; thinking, David can't come in here.
New King James Version
1 Chronicles 11:4-9; 14:1-7">[xr] And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, "You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you," thinking, "David cannot come in here."
New Living Translation
David then led his men to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land who were living there. The Jebusites taunted David, saying, "You'll never get in here! Even the blind and lame could keep you out!" For the Jebusites thought they were safe.
New Life Bible
Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the people living in the land. They said to David, "You will not come here. Even those who cannot see or walk could stop you." They thought that David could not come here.
New Revised Standard
The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, "You will not come in here, even the blind and the lame will turn you back"—thinking, "David cannot come in here."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then went the king and his men, to Jerusalem, against the Jebusites, inhabiting the land, - and they spake to David, saying - Thou canst not come in hither, unless thou take away the blind and lame - Thinking, David will not come in hither.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king and all the men that were with him went to Jerusalem to the Jebusites the inhabitants of the land: and they said to David: Thou shalt not come in hither unless thou take away the blind and the lame that say: David shall not come in hither.
Revised Standard Version
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jeb'usites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, "You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off" --thinking, "David cannot come in here."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to David, "You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away"; thinking, "David cannot enter here."

Contextual Overview

6 David and his men immediately set out for Jerusalem to take on the Jebusites, who lived in that country. But they said, "You might as well go home! Even the blind and the lame could keep you out. You can't get in here!" They had convinced themselves that David couldn't break through. 7But David went right ahead and captured the fortress of Zion, known ever since as the City of David. That day David said, "To get the best of these Jebusites, one must target the water system, not to mention this so-called lame and blind bunch that David hates." (In fact, he was so sick and tired of it, people coined the expression, "No lame and blind allowed in the palace.") 9David made the fortress city his home and named it "City of David." He developed the city from the outside terraces inward. David proceeded with a longer stride, a larger embrace since the God -of-the-Angel-Armies was with him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jerusalem: Genesis 14:18, Joshua 10:3, Judges 1:8, Hebrews 7:1

the Jebusites: Joshua 15:63, Joshua 18:28, Judges 1:8, Judges 1:21, Judges 19:10-12

which spake: etc. Dr. Kennicott's amended translation is as follows: "Who spake unto David, saying, Thou shalt not come in hither; for the blind and the lame shall drive thee away, by saying, David shall not come in hither" 2 Samuel 5:8. "And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, and through the subterraneous passage reacheth the lame and the blind, who hate the life of David - because the blind and the lame said, he shall not come into the house shall be chief and captain. So Joab, the son of Zeriah, went up first, and was chief."

Except: Jeremiah 37:10

thinking, David cannot: or, saying, David shall not, etc

Reciprocal: Judges 19:11 - the Jebusites 2 Samuel 2:23 - the fifth rib 1 Chronicles 11:4 - David Nehemiah 3:15 - the stairs Psalms 9:5 - rebuked Psalms 10:5 - he puffeth Jeremiah 21:13 - Who

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the king and his men went to Jerusalem,.... Which, at least part of it, belonged to the tribe of Benjamin; and therefore until all Israel, and that tribe, with the rest, made him king, he did not attempt the reduction of it, but now he immediately set out on an expedition against it:

unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: who inhabited the country about it, and even dwelt in that itself; for the tribe of Judah could not drive them out at first from that part of it which belonged to them, nor the tribe of Benjamin from that part which was theirs; in short, they became so much masters of it, that it was called, even in later times, Jebus, and the city of the Jebusites; see Joshua 15:63 Judges 1:21;

which spake unto David; when he came up against them, and besieged them:

except thou take away the blind and lame, thou shalt not come in hither; which many understand of their idols and images, which had eyes, but saw not, and feet, but walked not, which therefore David and his men in derision called the blind and lame; these the Jebusites placed for the defence of their city, and put great confidence in them for the security of it, and therefore said to David, unless you can remove these, which you scornfully call the blind and the lame, you will never be able to take the place. And certain it is the Heathens had their tutelar gods for their cities as well as their houses, in which they greatly trusted for their safety; and therefore with the Romans, when they besieged a city, the first thing they attempted to do was by any means, as by songs particularly, to get the tutelar gods out of it b; believing otherwise it would never be taken by them; or if it could, it was not lawful to make the gods captives c: and to this sense most of the Jewish commentators agree, as Kimchi, Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and R. Isaiah, who take them to be images; some say, made of brass, which were placed either in the streets of the city, or on the towers: it was usual with all nations to place on their walls both their household and country gods, to defend them from the enemy d. A learned countryman of ours e is of opinion that these were statues or images talismanically made, under a certain constellation, by some skilful in astrology, placed in the recess of the fort, and intrusted with the keeping of it, and in which the utmost confidence was put: but it seems better with Aben Ezra and Abarbinel, and so Josephus f, to understand this of blind and lame men; and that the sense is, that the Jebusites had such an opinion of the strength of their city, that a few blind and lame men were sufficient to defend it against David and his army; and perhaps in contempt of him placed some invalids, blind and lame men, on the walls of it, and jeeringly told him, that unless he could remove them, he would never take the city:

thinking: or "saying" g; this was the substance of what they said, or what they meant by it:

David cannot come in hither; it is impossible for him to enter it, he cannot and shall not do it, and very probably these words were put into the mouths of the blind and lame, and they said them frequently.

b Vid. Valtrinum de re militar. Rom. l. 5. c. 5. c Vid. Macrob. Saturnal. l. 3. c. 9. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 4. d Cornel. Nepot. Vit. Themistocl. l. 2. c. 7. e Gregory's Notes and Observations, &c. ch. 7. f Antiqu. l. 7. c. 3. sect. 1. g לאמר "dicendo", Pagninus, Montanus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

David immediately after being anointed king of Israel, probably wished to signalize his accession by an exploit which would be popular with all Israel, and especially with Saul’s tribe, Benjamin. He discerned the importance of having Jerusalem for his capital both because it belonged as much to Benjamin as to Judah, and on account of its strong position.

Except thou take away the blind ... - Rather, “and (the Jebusite) spake to David, saying, Thou shalt not come hither, but the blind and the lame shall keep thee off,” i. e. so far shalt thou be from taking the stronghold from us, that the lame and blind shall suffice to defend the place.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 5:6. The king and his men went to Jerusalem — This city was now in the hands of the Jebusites; but how they got possession of it is not known, probably they took it during the wars between Ish-bosheth and David. After Joshua's death, what is called the lower city was taken by the Israelites; and it is evident that the whole city was in their possession in the time of Saul, for David brought the head of Goliath thither, 2 Samuel 17:54. It appears to have been a very strong fortress, and, from what follows, deemed impregnable by the Jebusites. It was right that the Israelites should repossess it; and David very properly began his reign over the whole country by the siege of this city.

Except thou take away the blind and the lame — Scarcely a passage in the sacred oracles has puzzled commentators more than this. For my own part, I do not think that it is worth the labour spent upon it, nor shall I encumber these pages with the discordant opinions of learned men. From the general face of the text it appears that the Jebusites, vainly confiding in the strength of their fortress, placed lame and blind men upon the walls, and thus endeavoured to turn into ridicule David's attempt to take the place: Thou shalt not come in hither, except thou take away the blind and the lame; nothing could be more cutting to a warrior.

Dr. Kennicott has taken great pains to correct this passage, as may be seen in his First Dissertation on the Hebrew Text, pages 27 to 47. I shall insert our present version with his amended text line for line, his translation being distinguished by italics; and for farther information refer to Dr. K.'s work.

Ver. 2 Samuel 5:6. And the king and his men went to K. And the king and his men went to

Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants K. Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of

of the land: who spake unto David, saying, K. the land; who spake unto David, saying;

Except thou take away the blind and the K. Thou shalt not come in hither; for the blind

lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, K. and the lame shall drive thee away by saying,

David cannot come in hither. K. "David shall not come in hither."

Ver. 2 Samuel 5:8. And David said - Whosoever getteth K. And David said - Whosoever smiteth the

up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, K. Jebusites, and through the subterranean passage

and the lame and the blind, that are hated K. reacheth the lame and the blind who

of David's soul - Wherefore they said, The K. hate the life of David (because the blind and

blind and the lame shall not come into the K. the lame said, "He shall not come into the

house. * * * * * * * * K. house,") shall be chief and captain. So

* * * * * * * * * K. Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and

* * * * * * * * * K. was chief.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile