2 Samuel 18:7
ESV
And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men.
NIV
There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men.
NASB
The people of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great, twenty thousand men.
CSB
Israel’s army was defeated by David’s soldiers, and the slaughter there was vast that day—twenty thousand dead.
NLT
and the Israelite troops were beaten back by David’s men. There was a great slaughter that day, and 20,000 men laid down their lives.
KJV
Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
NKJV
The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day.
What does 2 Samuel 18:7 mean?
Within a short time, Absalom gathered a large army to attack his father. The goal is to kill David and take the throne uncontested (2 Samuel 17:1–3, 11–12). Meanwhile, David has placed a few thousand loyal fighting men under the command of three battle-hardened commanders (2 Samuel 18:1). We aren't told who the casualties are, but David's army easily beats Absalom's.David's army didn't fight alone. As David fled Absalom, David affirmed that only God could protect him and win this war:
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,God proved David right by using the terrain. By the end of the day, the forest kills more men than the soldiers weapons do (2 Samuel 18:8).
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
--Psalm 3:3–4
A civil war reveals the cracks in a nation, but victory rarely heals them. The division between Judah and the other tribes started when David became king of his tribe while Saul's son Ish-bosheth was king of the ten northern tribes (2 Samuel 2:4, 8). That division will simmer under the surface until Solomon dies. God will allow Jeroboam to split the north from the south in a bloodless revolt that will last until the nation is destroyed (2 Chronicles 10).
The Hebrew word for "thousands" is vague and can also mean "divisions" or "clans." The number of men dead is noteworthy in any case.
