2 Samuel 18:27
A good man with good news
- The gospel’s word בְּשֹׂרָה besorah · good news
Original
Translations
The watchman said, “The first man appears to me to be running like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “This is a good man,” said the king. “He comes with good news.”
And the watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings.
And the watchman says, “I see the running of the first as the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” And the king says, “This [is] a good man, and he comes with good tidings.”
파수꾼이 가로되 나 보기에는 앞선 사람의 달음질이 사독의 아들 아히마아스의 달음질과 같으니이다 왕이 가로되 저는 좋은 사람이니 좋은 소식을 가져 오느니라
파수꾼이 이르되, 내 생각에는 앞선 사람의 달음질하는 것이 사독의 아들 아히마아스의 달음질하는 것과 같으니이다, 하매 왕이 이르되, 그는 좋은 사람이니 좋은 소식을 가져오느니라, 하니라.
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on 2Sam 18:19-33 as a whole
By directing David to give God thanks for his victory, Ahimaaz prepared him for the news of his son's death. The more our hearts are fixed and enlarged, in thanksgiving to God for our mercies, the better disposed we shall be to bear with patience the afflictions mixed with them. …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley
Nothing on this verse itself.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
The watchman says the first runner runs like Ahimaaz, and the king answers, "This is a good man … He comes with good news" (2 Samuel 18:27). For the first time in the scene, has the word good beside it.
The watchman can tell a man from far off by the way he runs. To David, Ahimaaz was a proven man: when Absalom held Jerusalem, he and Jonathan had risked their lives to carry Hushai's warning to the king (2 Samuel 17:17–21). David reasons from the man to the message: a loyal man must be bringing good news. The guess is only half right. Ahimaaz calls out "All is well!", bows to the ground and blesses the LORD for the victory, but when the king asks whether Absalom is safe, he sidesteps the question (2 Samuel 18:28–29).
The Hebrew says, literally, "with good news he comes," and here the adjective tovah, good, follows besorah. In the two verses before, the word stood alone: news. Here the Hebrew spells out that the news is good, which shows that besorah by itself does not always settle whether the news will gladden or wound. Isaiah does the same when he speaks of the herald who brings good things to Zion (Isaiah 52:7). The New Testament's has the adjective built in: eu, well or good, joined to angel-, the root of the Greek words for bringing a message. What Hebrew adds here as a separate word, Greek carries inside the word itself.
Because the Hebrew says good, the translations agree. The KJV has "He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings," the LSV good tidings, the BSB good news, and both Korean Bibles 좋은 소식. The interesting difference comes in the next verse. Ahimaaz's first word to the king is the single Hebrew word shalom. The KJV renders it "All is well," and the BSB does the same; the 흠정역 follows with a report that things go well, while the 개역한글 takes shalom as a greeting to the king, peace be with you. A report of the battle and a wish for the king's peace: the word holds both.
David assumed that a good messenger meant good news. The gospel turns that order around. In prison, Paul knew that some were preaching "Christ out of envy and rivalry" (Philippians 1:15), yet he could say, "in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice" (Philippians 1:18). The goodness of the gospel does not hang on the goodness of the one who brings it; it rests on the Christ who is proclaimed. And the reverse is also true: the best of messengers cannot turn bad news into good. Ahimaaz showed that at the gate.