“Move aside,” said the king, “and stand here.”
Ahimaaz says he saw confusion but does not know what it meant, and David tells him to stand aside.
It suspends the answer and keeps the king waiting.
19Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.” 20But Joab replied, “You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.” 21So Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running. 22Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” 23“No matter what, I want to run!” he replied. 24Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall, looked out, and saw a man running alone. 25So he called out and told the king. 26As the first runner drew near, the watchman saw another man running, and he called out to the gatekeeper, “Look! Another man is running alone!” 27The watchman said, “The first man appears to me to be running like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” 28Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” And he bowed facedown before the king. 29The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” 30“Move aside,” said the king, “and stand here.” 31Just then the Cushite came and said, “May my lord the king hear the good news: Today the LORD has avenged you of all who rose up against you!” 32The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” 33The king was shaken and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”