7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
7 There Israel's troops were routed by David's men, and the casualties that day were great-twenty thousand men.
7 And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men.
7 The army of Israel was beaten badly there that day by David's men, a terrific slaughter - twenty thousand men!
7 The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day.
7 and the Israelite troops were beaten back by David's men. There was a great slaughter that day, and 20,000 men laid down their lives.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Samuel 18:7
Commentary on 2 Samuel 18:1-8
(Read 2 Samuel 18:1-8)
How does David render good for evil! Absalom would have only David smitten; David would have only Absalom spared. This seems to be a resemblance of man's wickedness towards God, and God's mercy to man, of which it is hard to say which is most amazing. Now the Israelites see what it is to take counsel against the Lord and his anointed.