Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.
Otherwise I would have been deceiving myself and risking my own life, because nothing is hidden from the king, and you yourself would have turned against me.
This soldier is saying he can't lie or act dishonestly because the king finds out everything, and even his commander would abandon him if he did wrong.
📚 Historical Context
This verse comes from the story of Absalom's rebellion against his father King David. A soldier is speaking to Joab (David's military commander) about why he wouldn't kill Absalom even for money, knowing that David had commanded his men to deal gently with his son. The soldier understands that David's intelligence network would discover any deception, and that loyalty to the king's wishes was paramount.
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