John Gill Commentary 2 Samuel 18:11

"And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest it, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten [pieces of] silver, and a girdle." — 2 Samuel 18:11 (ASV)

And Joab said to the man who told him
That gave the above account of him:

and, behold, you saw [him] ;
in reality; or, "did you see him?" is it a fact?

and why did you not strike him there to the ground ;
kill him on the spot, that he might have dropped from the tree to the ground:

and I would have given you ten [shekels] of silver ;
on the news of it, for doing it, which was near twenty four shillings of our money; Josephus says ^F9 fifty shekels; the Arabic version has it ten thousand talents of silver, too great a sum by far:

and a girdle ?
which was a mark of great honour, and a token of a commission under him, and of investing him with a military office; see (1 Samuel 18:4) ; it used to be given as an honorary reward to soldiers that behaved well, as on the contrary it was reckoned a reproach to be ungirt, or the girdle to be taken away ^F11 .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F9: Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 10. sect. 2.)
• F11: Vide Lydium de re militare, l. 3. c. 6.