But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
By the way of the plain - or 'ciccar,' circle. This word is only used elsewhere in connection with the valley of the Jordan. It is possible that there may have been a place or region so called on the table-lands of Gilead, as the Septuagint seems to indicate. Or Mahanaim may have been so situated, with regard to the battlefield, as to be more easily accessible by a descent to the plain of the Jordan than over the hills themselves. Or the word may signify (as Ewald explains) a manner of quick running (Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 323).