2 Samuel 16:22

2 Samuel 16:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
• New International Version (NIV)So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
• New Living Translation (NLT)So they set up a tent on the palace roof where everyone could see it, and Absalom went in and had sex with his father’s concubines.

Context of 2 Samuel 16:22

20Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give advice as to what we should do.” 21And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23Now the advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired at the oracle of God. So was all the advice of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

2 Samuel 16:22 word by word

וַיַּטּ֧וּ לְאַבְשָׁל֛וֹם הָאֹ֖הֶל עַל־הַגָּ֑ג וַיָּבֹ֤א אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ אֶל־פִּֽלַגְשֵׁ֣י אָבִ֔יו לְעֵינֵ֖י כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• So they spreadנָטָהnâţâh · to stretchH5186
• Absalomאֲבִישָׁלוֹם'ăbîyshâlôm 'abshâlôm · AbsalomH53
• a tentאֹ֫הֶל'ôhel · tentH168
• upon the top of the houseגָּגgâg · roofH1406
• went inבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• unto his father’sאָב'âb · fatherH1
• concubinesפִּלֶ֫גֶשׁpîylegesh pilegesh · concubineH6370
• in the sightעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
• of all Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478

Cross-references for 2 Samuel 16:22

• 2 Samuel 11:2Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
• 2 Samuel 12:11Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
• 2 Samuel 15:16Then the king went out with all his household after him. But the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house.
• 2 Samuel 20:3Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
• Numbers 25:6And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
• Isaiah 3:9The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.
• Jeremiah 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no latter rain. You have had a harlot’s forehead; You refuse to be ashamed.
• Jeremiah 8:12Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
• Ezekiel 24:7For her blood is in her midst; She set it on top of a rock; She did not pour it on the ground, To cover it with dust.
• Philippians 3:19whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.

Commentaries on 2 Samuel 16:22

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-23Verses 15-23 The wisest counsellors of that age were Ahithophel and Hushai: Absalom thinks himself sure of success, when he has both; on them he relies, and consults not the ark, though he had that with him. But miserable counsellors were they both. Hushai would never counsel him to do wisely. Ahithophel counselled him to do wickedly; and so did as effectually betray him, as he did, who was designedly false to him: for they that advise men to sin…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22Absalom wanted to show the people he had taken the throne and its royal powers. His disgraceful act mirrored David’s affair with Bathsheba, which also started on that roof (2 Samuel 11:2–4). This event fulfilled Nathan’s prophecy (2 Samuel 12:11–12).Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Samuel 16:22

• Adultery
• Ahithophel
• House
• Incest

In the dictionaries

• Absalom
• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• House
• King
• Prayer
• Bible, the
• Crime; Crimes
• David

Commentaries on 2 Samuel 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings