And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.

And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming apace, and drawing nearer,

And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is news in his mouth. And he came on and drew near.

And the watchman called, and told the king. And the king said, If he is alone there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.

And the watchman calleth, and declareth to the king, and the king saith, 'If by himself, tidings are in his mouth;' and he cometh, coming on and drawing near.

And the watchman gave news of it to the king. And the king said, If he is coming by himself, then he has news. And the man was travelling quickly, and came near.

And crying out, he told the king. And the king said, "If he is alone, there is good news in his mouth." But as he was advancing and drawing nearer,

If he be alone, there is tidings - That is, good tidings. For if the battle had been lost men would have been running in different directions through the country.

And the watchman cried and told the king,.... Called with a loud voice from the roof of the watchtower to the king, sitting between the gates, and informed him what he saw:
and the king said, if he be alone there is tidings in his mouth; for if the army was routed and fled, and were pursued, there would be more in company, or several running one after another; but being but one, it was highly improbable that he was sent express:
and he came apace, and drew near; which was another sign of his being a messenger, the haste he made towards the city.

When he announced this to the king, he said, "If he (is or comes) alone, there is good news in his mouth," namely, because several runners would have shown themselves if it had been a flight. As the first messenger came nearer and nearer, the watchman saw another man running, and shouted this into the gate (השּׁער is wrongly pointed for השּׁער, according to the lxx, Syr., and Vulgate); whereupon the king replied, "This is also a good messenger."