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He is probably already hiding in a cave or some other place. If your father attacks your men first, people will hear the news and think, ‘Absalom’s followers are losing!’ 10 Then even your bravest men will be frightened, because all the Israelites know that your father is a powerful soldier and that his men are very brave.

11 “This is what I suggest: You must gather all the Israelites together from Dan to Beersheba.[a] Then there will be many people, like the sand by the sea. Then you yourself must go into the battle.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 17:11 Dan to Beersheba This means the whole nation of Israel, north and south. Dan was a town in the northern part of Israel, and Beersheba was in the southern part of Judah.

Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place.(A) If he should attack your troops first,[a] whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ 10 Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion,(B) will melt(C) with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.(D)

11 “So I advise you: Let all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba(E)—as numerous as the sand(F) on the seashore—be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 17:9 Or When some of the men fall at the first attack