C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 15:10-11

2Sa 15:10-11

When Absalom went to Hebron, he sent spies into all the tribes of Israel to say, “When ye hear the sound of the trumpet, say, Absalom has become king in Hebron.” We must suppose the sending the spies to have been contemporaneous with the removal of Absalom to Hebron, so that ויּשׁלח is used quite regularly, and there is no reason for translating it as a pluperfect. The messengers sent out are called “spies,” because they were first of all to ascertain the feelings of the people in the different tribes, and were only to execute their commission in places where they could reckon upon support. The conspiracy had hitherto been kept very secret, as we may see from the statement in 2Sa 15:11 : “With Absalom there had gone two hundred men out of Jerusalem, invited (to the sacrificial festival),and going in their simplicity, who knew nothing at all of the affair.” (כּל־דּבר לא: nothing at all.)