2 Samuel 17:9

WEB

⁹Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’

KJV

⁹Behold, he is hid^[+] now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

BSB

⁹Surely by now he is hiding in a cave or some other location. If some of your troops fall first,^[+] hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’

FBV

⁹Right now he's holed up in a cave or some place like that. If he attacks first and some of your men are killed, people who hear about it will say, ‘Absalom's men are being slaughtered.’

Extra References

Judges 20:32-33

³²The children of Benjamin said, “They are struck down before us, as at the first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let’s flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.”

³³All the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal Tamar. Then the ambushers of Israel broke out of their place, even out of Maareh Geba.

Joshua 7:5

⁵The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water.

Joshua 8:6

⁶They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them,

1 Samuel 22:1

¹David therefore departed from there and escaped to Adullam’s cave. When his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.

1 Samuel 24:3

³He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were staying in the innermost parts of the cave.

1 Samuel 14:14-15

¹⁴That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land.

¹⁵There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so there was an exceedingly great trembling.