2 Samuel 15:7
ESV
And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron.
NIV
At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, "Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord.
NASB
Now it came about at the end of four years that Absalom said to the king, 'Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to the Lord, in Hebron.
CSB
When four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I made to the Lord.
NLT
After four years, Absalom said to the king, 'Let me go to Hebron to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and fulfill a vow I made to him.
KJV
And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron.
NKJV
Now it came to pass after forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the Lord.
What does 2 Samuel 15:7 mean?
It's been nine years since Absalom asked his father, David, if he could leave Jerusalem to celebrate the sheep-shearing season with his servants and his brothers. David let him go with his blessing. Once Absalom made sure everyone had enough to eat and drink, he signaled his servants to kill his brother Amnon, who had raped his sister, Tamar's (2 Samuel 13:23–29). Absalom went to his grandfather, the king of Geshur, and stayed under his protection (2 Samuel 13:35–38). After three years, Joab convinced David to allow Absalom to come home, but it was another two years before David agreed to reconcile with his son (2 Samuel 14:21, 28–33).Now, four years later, Absalom asks David's permission to leave the city to fulfill a vow. He claims that when he was in Geshur, he promised God that if God allowed him to come home, he'd offer worship in his hometown of Hebron (2 Samuel 3:2–3). David sends him in peace. David doesn't know Absalom has spent the last four years poisoning the people against David. When Absalom returns to Jerusalem, it won't be as a devout and devoted prince; it will be as a self-designed king bent on destroying his father (2 Samuel 15:8–12).
