^2:27Joab replied, “As surely as God lives, if you had not said this, it would have been morning before the people would have abandoned pursuit²⁸ of their brothers!”

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Footnotes

28 The Hebrew verb נַעֲלָה (na’alah) used here is the Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular of עָלָה (’alah, “to go up”). In the Niphal this verb “is used idiomatically, of getting away from so as to abandon … especially of an army raising a siege …” (see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, ).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Joab answered, “As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“As God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops wouldn’t have stopped pursuing their brothers until morning.”

NLTNew Living Translation

Then Joab said, “God only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t spoken, for we would have chased you all night if necessary.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Joab said, “As God lives, for if you had not spoken, the people would surely have gone up in the morning, each one of them from following after his brother.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.

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