2 Samuel 2:18

Contextual Overview

¹⁸The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was a fast runner, like one of the wild gazelles. ¹⁸ The three sons of Tzeru'yah were there, Yo'av, and Avishai, and `Asa'el: and `Asa'el was as light of foot as a wild roe. ¹⁸ And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. ¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel was swift with his feet as one of the gazelles which is in the open field. ¹⁸ And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. ¹⁸ Zeruiah's three sons, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, were there. Now Asahel was a fast runner, as fast as a deer in the field. ¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there—Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. (Now Asahel was as quick on his feet as one of the gazelles in the field.) ¹⁸Three sons of Zeruiah [the half sister of David] were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as light and swift-footed as one of the [wild] gazelles in the field.¹⁸ Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was as swift-footed as one of the gazelles that is in the field.¹⁸ And there were three sonnes of Zeruiah there, Ioab, and Abishai, and Asahel. And Asahel was as light on foote as a wilde roe.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

three: 1 Chronicles 2:15, 1 Chronicles 2:16, 1 Chronicles 11:26

was as light: 2 Samuel 1:23, 1 Chronicles 12:8, Psalms 147:10, Psalms 147:11, Ecclesiastes 9:11, Amos 2:14

foot: Heb. his feet

a wild roe: Heb. one of the roes that is in the field, Psalms 18:33, Song of Solomon 2:17, Song of Solomon 8:14, Habakkuk 3:19, The word tzevee, rather denotes the gazelle or antelope (see note on Deuteronomy 15:22).

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 26:6 - to Abishai 2 Samuel 2:13 - Joab 2 Samuel 14:1 - Joab 2 Samuel 20:6 - Abishai 2 Samuel 22:34 - like hinds' 2 Samuel 23:18 - Abishai 2 Samuel 23:24 - Asahel 1 Chronicles 11:6 - Joab 1 Chronicles 11:20 - Abishai 1 Chronicles 27:7 - Asahel Joel 2:7 - They shall run

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God looked at everything he had made, and it was very good. Evening passed, and morning came. This was the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
And God sawe all that he had made, and loe, it was very good. So the euening and the morning were the sixt day.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31
God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came and then morning—that was the sixth day.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And there were three sons of Zeruiah there,.... In the battle,

Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel; Joab was the general of the array, Abishai was he who went into Saul's host at night, and took away his spear and cruse of water at his head, 1 Samuel 26:6; and it is for the sake of the third, Asahel, that the account is given, the story of his death being about to be told.

And Asahel [was as] light of foot as a wild roe: swiftness of foot, as well as courage, for which this man was famous, 1 Chronicles 11:26; was a very great qualification for a warrior e. So Achilles, in Homer f, is often said to be swift of foot, and others of his heroes are commended for their swiftness. Harold son of King Canutus, was from his swiftness g called Harefoot; as here this man for the same reason is compared to a wild roe, which is a very swift creature, or to one of the roes that were in the field as in the original text. See Song of Solomon 2:7; one sort of which, called "kemas", is said to run as swift as a tempest h.

e Cornel. Nepos, Epaminond. l. 2. f ποδας ωκυς, Iliad. 1. lin. 15. g Rapin's History of England, vol. 1. p. 128. h Aelian. Hist. de Animal, l. 14. c. 14.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 2:18. Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe — To be swift of foot was deemed a great accomplishment in the heroes of antiquity; ποδας ωκυς Αχιλλευς, the swift-footed Achilles, is an epithet which Homer gives to that hero no less than thirty times in the course of the Ilias. It has a qualification also among the Roman soldiers; they were taught both to run swiftly, and to swim well.