Footman

Before a king had a throne, he sometimes had runners. Absalom prepared himself chariots and horses, “and fifty men to run before him,” and Adonijah did the same when he announced, “I will be king.” Samuel had described this long before, in his warning about what a king would do: he would take Israel’s sons for his chariots and horsemen, and “some shall run before his chariots.” The footman is a small figure, but these three verses show how a ruler’s display of strength was built out of ordinary families. Start with 1 Samuel 8 for the warning, then set 2 Samuel 15 and 1 Kings 1 beside it.

3 verses

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 8:11

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

2 Samuel

2 Samuel 15:1

And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

1 Kings

1 Kings 1:5

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

a word employed in the English Bible in two senses:

(1.) Generally, to distinguish those of the fighting men who went on foot from those who were on horseback or in chariots;

(2.) In a more special sense, in (1 Samuel 22:17) only, and as the translation of a different term from the above --a body of swift runners in attendance on the king. This body appears to have been afterwards kept up, and to have been distinct from the body-guard --the six hundred and thirty-- who were originated by David. See (1 Kings 14:27,28; 2 Kings 11:4,6,11,13,19; 2 Chronicles 12:10,11) In each of these cases the word is the same as the above, and is rendered "guard," with "runners" in the margin in two instances - (1 Kings 14:27; 2 Kings 11:13)