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2 Samuel 14
Holman Christian Standard Bible

Absalom Restored to David

14 Joab son of Zeruiah observed that the king’s mind was on Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa(A) to bring a clever(B) woman from there. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don’t put on any oil.(C) Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. 3 Go to the king and speak these words to him.” Then Joab told her exactly what to say.

4 When the woman from Tekoa came[a] to the king, she fell with her face to the ground in homage and said, “Help me, my king!”

5 “What’s the matter?” the king asked her.

“To tell the truth, I am a widow; my husband died,” she said.(D) 6 “Your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he murdered. We will destroy the heir!’ They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on earth.”

8 The king told the woman, “Go home. I will issue a command on your behalf.”

9 Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me(E) and my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be innocent.”

10 “Whoever speaks to you,” the king said, “bring him to me. He will not trouble you again!”

11 She replied, “Please, may the king invoke the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not increase the loss, and they will not eliminate my son!”(F)

“As the Lord lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.”(G)

12 Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?”

“Speak,” he replied.

13 The woman asked, “Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one. 14 We will certainly die(H) and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.

15 “Now therefore, I’ve come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request. 16 The king will surely listen in order to rescue his servant from the hand of this man who would eliminate both me and my son from God’s inheritance. 17 Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the Angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you.”

18 Then the king answered the woman, “I’m going to ask you something; don’t conceal it from me!”

“Let my lord the king speak,” the woman replied.

19 The king asked, “Did Joab put you up to[b] all this?”

The woman answered. “As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or left from all my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me; he told your servant exactly what to say. 20 Joab your servant has done this to address the issue indirectly,[c] but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the Angel of God, knowing everything on earth.”

21 Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

22 Joab fell with his face to the ground in homage and praised the king. “Today,” Joab said, “your servant knows I have found favor with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your servant.”

23 So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom(I) to Jerusalem. 24 However, the king added, “He may return to his house, but he may not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his house, but he did not see the king.[d]

25 No man in all Israel was as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw. 26 When he shaved his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off—he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds[e] according to the royal standard.

27 Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman. 28 Absalom resided in Jerusalem two years but never saw the king. 29 Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come. So he sent again, a second time, but he still wouldn’t come. 30 Then Absalom said to his servants, “See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it!” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.[f]

31 Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

32 “Look,” Absalom explained to Joab, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? I’d be better off if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king. If I am guilty, let him kill me.”

33 Joab went to the king and told him. So David summoned Absalom, who came to the king and bowed down with his face to the ground before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 14:4 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg; other Hb mss read spoke
  2. 2 Samuel 14:19 Lit Is the hand of Joab in
  3. 2 Samuel 14:20 Lit to go around the face of the matter
  4. 2 Samuel 14:24 Lit king’s face
  5. 2 Samuel 14:26 Lit 200 shekels
  6. 2 Samuel 14:30 DSS, LXX add So Joab’s servants came to him with their clothes torn and said, “Absalom’s servants have set the field on fire!”
Close ISV

2 Samuel 14
International Standard Version

Joab’s Plan Regarding Absalom

14 Meanwhile, Zeruiah’s son Joab knew that the king’s attention was focused on Absalom,[a] 2 so he[b] sent messengers[c] to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup.[d] Act like a woman who’s been in mourning for the dead for many days. 3 Then go to the king and speak to him like this…” Then Joab told her what to say.

4 When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, prostrating herself to address him, “Help, your majesty!”

5 The king asked her, “What’s your problem?”[e]

“I’ve been a widowed woman[f] ever since my husband died,” she answered. 6 “Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. 7 Now please pay attention closely! My[g] whole family is attacking your humble servant! They’re saying, ‘Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we’ll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we’ll kill the heir also!’ They’re going to extinguish the only light[h] left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!”

8 Then the king replied to the woman, “Go home and I’ll issue a special order just for you.”

9 But the woman from Tekoa told the king, “Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors’ household, and not on my king or his throne!”

10 The king replied, “Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won’t be bothering[i] you anymore!”

11 Then she said, “Your majesty, please remember the Lord your God, so that blood avengers don’t do any more damage! Otherwise, they’ll destroy my son!”

So he promised, “As the Lord lives, not even a single hair from your son’s head[j] will fall to the ground!”

12 At this, the woman responded, “Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?”

“Say it…”[k] he replied.

13 “Why, then,” the woman asked, “are you planning to act just like this against God’s people? Based on what your majesty has said, you’re acting like one who is guilty himself, because you’re not bringing back the one whom you’ve banished! 14 After all, even though we all die,[l] and we’re[m] all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn’t take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged.[n]

15 “Now as to why I’ve come to speak with your majesty the king, it’s because the people have made me afraid, so your humble servant told herself,[o] ‘I’ll go speak to the king, so perhaps the king will do what his humble servant has requested. 16 Perhaps the king will listen and deliver his humble servant from the oppression[p] of the man who intends to eliminate both me and my son from what God has apportioned to us!’[q]

17 “So your humble servant is saying, ‘Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the Lord your God remain present with you.’”

18 In reply, the king asked the woman, “Please don’t conceal anything about which I’m going to be asking you now.”

So the woman replied, “Please, your majesty, let the king speak.”

19 Then the king asked, “Is Joab behind all of this with you?”[r]

“As your soul lives, your majesty, the king,” the woman answered, “no one can divert anything left or right from what your majesty the king has spoken! As a matter of fact, it was your servant Joab! He was there, giving me precise orders about everything that your humble servant was to say. Your servant Joab did this, 20 intending to change the outcome of this matter. Nevertheless, your majesty is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to be aware of everything that’s going on throughout the earth.”[s]

David Authorizes Absalom’s Return

21 Then the king addressed Joab, “Look! I’ll do this thing that you’ve requested.[t] Go bring back the young man Absalom.”

22 At this, Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrating himself to bless the king, and then[u] said, “Today your servant realizes that he’s found favor with you, your majesty, in that the king has acted on the request of his servant.” 23 Then Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

24 Nevertheless, the king said, “Let him return to his own home and not show his face to me.” So Absalom returned to his own home and did not show his face to the king.

David’s Son Absalom

25 Now throughout all of Israel no one was as handsome as Absalom or so highly praised, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there wasn’t a single thing wrong about him. 26 Whenever he cut his hair —he cut it at the end of every year, because it grew thick on his head,[v] which is why he cut it—his hair weighed in at 200 shekels[w] measured by the royal standard.[x] 27 Absalom fathered three sons and one daughter, whom he named Tamar. She was a beautiful woman, both in form and appearance.

28 Meanwhile, Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years, but never saw the king’s face. 29 After this, Absalom sent for Joab, intending to send him to the king, but Joab[y] would not come. Absalom[z] sent for him a second time, but he still[aa] would not come. 30 So Absalom[ab] told his servants, “Observe that Joab’s grain field lies next to mine. He has barley planted there. Go set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

31 At this, Joab got up, went to Absalom’s home, and demanded of him, “Why did your servants set fire to my grain field?”

32 In answer to Joab, Absalom replied, “Look, I sent for you, telling you ‘Come here so I can send you to the king to ask him “What’s the point in moving here from Geshur? I would have been better off to have remained there!”’ So let me see the king’s face, and if I’m guilty of anything, let him execute me!”

33 So when Joab approached the king and told him what Absalom had said,[ac] he summoned Absalom, who then came to the king and fell to the ground on his face in front of him.[ad] Then the king kissed Absalom.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 14:1 Lit. king’s heart was toward
  2. 2 Samuel 14:2 Lit. Joab
  3. 2 Samuel 14:2 The Heb. lacks messengers
  4. 2 Samuel 14:2 Lit. using anointing oil
  5. 2 Samuel 14:5 The Heb. lacks problem
  6. 2 Samuel 14:5 I.e. a widow of meager resources, low social status, and limited circumstances, therefore eligible to receive special assistance from Israel’s society.
  7. 2 Samuel 14:7 Lit. The
  8. 2 Samuel 14:7 Lit. the coal that is; i.e. the only remaining heir
  9. 2 Samuel 14:10 Lit. touching
  10. 2 Samuel 14:11 The Heb. lacks head
  11. 2 Samuel 14:12 The Heb. lacks it
  12. 2 Samuel 14:14 Lit. though to death we all die
  13. 2 Samuel 14:14 The Heb. lacks we’re
  14. 2 Samuel 14:14 MT verb for cast away permanently is an intensive form of the verb estranged
  15. 2 Samuel 14:15 The Heb. lacks to herself
  16. 2 Samuel 14:16 Lit. palm
  17. 2 Samuel 14:16 The Heb. lacks to us
  18. 2 Samuel 14:19 Lit. Is the hand of Joab with you in
  19. 2 Samuel 14:20 Or land; or going on in the land
  20. 2 Samuel 14:21 The Heb. lacks that you’ve requested
  21. 2 Samuel 14:22 Lit. Joab
  22. 2 Samuel 14:26 Lit. grew heavy on him
  23. 2 Samuel 14:26 I.e. about five pounds at 0.4 shekels per ounce
  24. 2 Samuel 14:26 Lit. the king’s weight
  25. 2 Samuel 14:29 Lit. he
  26. 2 Samuel 14:29 Lit. he
  27. 2 Samuel 14:29 The Heb. lacks still
  28. 2 Samuel 14:30 Lit. he
  29. 2 Samuel 14:33 The Heb. lacks what Absalom had said
  30. 2 Samuel 14:33 Lit. of the king
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