2 Samuel 15:28

in the plain of the wilderness The level district of the Jordan valley near Jericho, called elsewhere "the plains of Jericho." Cp. Joshua 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5; and note on ch. 2 Samuel 2:29. Instead however of plainswhich is the traditional reading (Qrî), the written text (Kthîbh) has fords. This certainly seems the more probable reading both here and in ch. 2 Samuel 17:16, where there is the same variation, for a definite place must have been named at which the messenger was to find David, and the ford, as a critical point, would be a most natural halting place.

to certify me To tell me how matters are going in the city.