Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Samuel 17:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
An unnamed woman protects the messengers through concealment and misdirection, but the narrative does not preserve her name or later safety.
The priests must run the warning while the false plan is still believed
This verse is one part of that explanation in 2 Samuel 17:15–22. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 17:15–22
Read 2 Samuel 17:20 with 17:15–22. The wording “And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan…” supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Hushai warns the priests, a young woman relays the message, an unnamed woman hides the pursued messengers in a well, and David crosses Jordan.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Messengers Escape through a Woman's Concealment,” 2 Samuel 17:20 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Samuel 17:5–14 establishes this prior movement: Hushai invokes David's skill and the army's fury, proposes a massive personal campaign, and wins Absalom's approval as the narrator identifies divine purpose. 2 Samuel 17:15–22 continues the narrative consequence; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains its placement.
Follow the Context
- Opening movement: Hushai warns the priests, a young woman relays the message, an unnamed woman hides the pursued messengers in a well.
- Developing movement or outcome: David crosses Jordan.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan…”
In plain language: An unnamed woman protects the messengers through concealment and misdirection, but the narrative does not preserve her name or later safety.
2 Samuel 17:20 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence by recording “And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan….” This line matters because an unnamed woman protects the messengers through concealment and misdirection, but the narrative does not preserve her name or later safety.
Why it matters: This wording carries a material textual, literary, historical, royal-power, violence, consent, trauma, covenant, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Samuel 17:20 does not permit the wording “And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. The successful concealment does not make deception universally right, erase the danger borne by the unnamed women and messengers, or authorize exposing subordinates to risks leaders avoid.
What Remains True
Faithful leadership is measured by truth, restraint, justice, repair, and the treatment of people with less power rather than by title, victory, popularity, or narrative prominence. In this unit, that truth is tested by the concrete movement: Hushai warns the priests, a young woman relays the message, an unnamed woman hides the pursued messengers in a well, and David crosses Jordan. In 2 Samuel 17:20, the concrete line “And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Teach It Back
Explain 2 Samuel 17:20's role in 17:15–22. Paraphrase “And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan…”, name the ancient royal or household horizon, state one material uncertainty, keep one vulnerable or affected person visible, and identify one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 2 Samuel 17:15–22 — Messengers Escape through a Woman's ConcealmentSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 2 Samuel 17:15-22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated verbs, names, syntax, and the base text behind translation and textual discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Sam.xml, 17:15-22
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Samuel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Unit-bounded wording, older-English clarification, textual witnesses, syntax, names, numbers, and major historical or literary notes actually printed for these verses.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 566–568, translation and all translator notes attached to 17:15-22
Open source ↗