Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 18:23

But howsoever, [said he], let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.

23. by the way of the plain ] “The plain” (Heb. kikkar) is the technical term for the floor of the valley through which the Jordan runs. In our ignorance of the exact position of the battlefield, we cannot trace the routes taken by the rival runners with certainty. But in all probability what is meant is that Ahimaaz struck down into the Jordan valley, and ran by a longer but easier route to Mahanaim, while the Cushite took the direct but more difficult route over the hills.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The plain – The floor of the valley through which the Jordan runs. The Cushite did not run by that road, but took the road over the hills, which may well have been the shorter but also the more difficult road. The two roads would probably meet a short distance from Mahanaim. These words, which have been thought to prove that the battle took place on the west of Jordan, are a clear proof that it took place on the east, because if the runners had had to cross the Jordan, they must both have come by the same road, which it is clear they did not.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

The way of the plain was the smoother and easier, though the longer way.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

23. by the way of the plainorciccar, “circle.” This word is only used elsewherein connection with the valley of the Jordan. It is possible thatthere may have been a place or region so called on the tablelands ofGilead, as the Septuagint seems to indicate. Or Mahanaim mayhave been so situated, with the regard to the battlefield, as to bemore easily accessible by a descent to the plain of the Jordan, thanover the hills themselves. Or the word may signify (as EWALDexplains) a manner of quick running [STANLEY].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

But howsoever ([said he]) let me run,…. Be it as it may, I beg I may have leave; and being so very importunate, it was granted:

and he said unto him, run; since he would take no denial:

then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi; who ran by the way of the mountains; which though the shorter way, that through the plain was easiest, and soonest run, though the longest.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(23) By the way of the plain.The word used here is generally applied to the valley of the Jordan and hence it has been argued that the battle could not have been fought on the eastern side of the river, since, in that case, Ahimaaz could not have reached Mahanaim by the Jordan valley except by a long and tedious detour. But the word simply means circuit, or surrounding country, and is used in Neh. 12:28 for the country about Jerusalem. Here it means that Ahimaaz ran by the way of the circuit, i.e., in all probability, by a longer but smoother road than that taken by the Cushite, so that he was able to outrun him.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

AHITHOPHEL’S SUICIDE, 2Sa 18:23.

23. Arose, and gat him home He was deeply chagrined and mortally offended. He saw, too, that by the neglect of his counsel Absalom’s cause was lost; and for himself, he had gone too far in treason ever to hope for reconciliation with David.

To his city Giloh. See 2Sa 15:12.

Put his household in order Or, as margin, gave charge concerning his house; settled up his worldly affairs.

Hanged himself Like the betrayer of our Lord. Mat 27:5. There are several points of resemblance between Ahithophel and Judas Iscariot. The deep wounding of David’s spirit by the treason of Ahithophel probably occasioned the writing of the forty-first, fifty-fifth, sixty-ninth, and one hundred and ninth Psalms, from one of which (Psa 41:9) the Lord quoted a passage which he interpreted as a prophecy of Judas. Joh 13:18.

Buried in the sepulchre of his, father “Not like an excommunicated outcast, but like a venerable patriarch.” Stanley. According to Josephus he hung himself in the inmost room of his house, and his relatives took him down and honoured him with becoming funeral ceremonies. “Ahithophel is not, probably, the first man who hanged himself, but he bears the unenviable distinction of being the first whose hanging himself is recorded; and society would have little reason to complain, if all who have since sentenced themselves to this doom were as worthy of it as this father of self-suspenders. Bishop Hall quaintly remarks of him, that, though mad enough to hang himself, he was wise enough to set his house in order before he did it.” Kitto.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments