2 Samuel 18:19–23 (ESV) – 19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and carry news to the king that the LORD has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.” 20 And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king’s son is dead.” 21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. 22 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?” 23 “Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.

After the death of Absalom and the defeat of his fighters, it was time to give the news to King David. Ahimaaz desired to run and tell David of the great news that the enemy had been defeated. Joab, on the other hand, thought it best to send a Cushite to tell David that his son, Absalom, was dead. As the Cushite ran to tell the king, Ahimaaz plead with Joab to let him also run to David to tell him the news of the victory. He desired to go “com what may”. Joab allowed Ahimaaz to run along with the Cushite messenger. We read that Ahimaaz outran the Cushite and would arrive first to tell the news to David, “come what may”.

We see Ahimaaz’s eagerness to share with the king what he believed to be good news. We see it in his eagerness to go and we see it in his ability to run so quickly. Joab knew that David would not receive the news as good because he would be fixated only on the status of his son. Joab wanted to send a foreigner who was not emotionally tied to the events. The Cushite messenger would be able to relay the facts without an emotional attachment. Ahimaaz was too eager to share what he believed to be good news with David, who was also eager to hear news of his son’s safety.

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