2 Samuel 15:21 — Meaning and Application

Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou {art} a stranger, and also an exile.

Whereas thou camest {but} yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth {be} with thee. {go up...: Heb. wander in going}

And Ittai answered the king, and said, {As} the LORD liveth, and {as} my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.

And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that {were} with him.

And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. {Kidron: Gr. Cedron}