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2 Samuel 14:1-20
New English Translation

David Permits Absalom to Return to Jerusalem

14 Now Joab son of Zeruiah realized that the king longed to see[a] Absalom. 2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning[b] and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time.[c] 3 Go to the king and speak to him in the following fashion.” Then Joab told her what to say.[d]

4 So the Tekoan woman went[e] to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me,[f] O king!” 5 The king replied to her, “What do you want?”[g] She answered, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 Your servant[h] has two sons. When the two of them got into a fight in the field, there was no one present who could intervene. One of them struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death[i] of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal,[j] leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

8 Then the king told the woman, “Go to your home. I will give instructions concerning your situation.”[k] 9 The Tekoan woman said to the king, “My lord the king, let any blame fall on me and on the house of my father. But let the king and his throne be innocent!”

10 The king said, “Bring to me whoever speaks to you, and he won’t bother you again!” 11 She replied, “In that case,[l] let the king invoke the name of[m] the Lord your God so that the avenger of blood may not add to the killing! Then they will not destroy my son!” He replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of your son’s head[n] will fall to the ground.”

12 Then the woman said, “Please permit your servant to speak to my lord the king about another matter.” He replied, “Tell me.” 13 The woman said, “Why have you devised something like this against God’s people? When the king speaks in this fashion, he makes himself guilty, for the king has not brought back the one he has banished. 14 Certainly we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored.[o] 15 I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful.[p] But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant[q] asks. 16 Yes![r] The king may[s] listen and deliver his female servant[t] from the hand of the man who seeks to remove[u] both me and my son from the inheritance God has given us!’[v] 17 So your servant said, ‘May the word of my lord the king be my security, for my lord the king is like the angel of God when it comes to deciding between right and wrong! May the Lord your God be with you!’”

18 Then the king replied to the woman, “Don’t hide any information from me when I question you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 19 The king said, “Did Joab put you up to all of this?”[w] The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant’s mouth. 20 Your servant Joab did this so as to change this situation. But my lord has wisdom like that of the angel of God, and knows everything that is happening in the land.”[x]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 14:1 tn Heb “the heart of the king was upon.” The Syriac Peshitta adds the verb ʾethreʿi (“was reconciled”).
  2. 2 Samuel 14:2 tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.
  3. 2 Samuel 14:2 tn Heb “these many days.”
  4. 2 Samuel 14:3 tn Heb “put the words in her mouth” (so NASB, NIV).
  5. 2 Samuel 14:4 tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא (vattavoʾ, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר (vattoʾmer, “and she said”). The MT reading shows confusion with וַתֹּאמֶר later in the verse. The emendation suggested here is supported by the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, some mss of the Targum, and Vulgate.
  6. 2 Samuel 14:4 tn The word “me” is left to be inferred in the Hebrew text; it is present in the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate.
  7. 2 Samuel 14:5 tn Heb “What to you?”
  8. 2 Samuel 14:6 tn Here and elsewhere (vv. 7, 12, 15a, 17, 19) the woman uses a term which suggests a lower level female servant. She uses the term to express her humility before the king. However, she uses a different term in vv. 15b-16. See the note at v. 15 for a discussion of the rhetorical purpose of this switch in terminology.
  9. 2 Samuel 14:7 tn Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition ב (bet, “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii, or bet (ב) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something.
  10. 2 Samuel 14:7 sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line.
  11. 2 Samuel 14:8 tn Heb “concerning you.”
  12. 2 Samuel 14:11 tn The words “in that case” are not in the Hebrew text, but may be inferred from the context. They are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarification.
  13. 2 Samuel 14:11 tn Heb “let the king remember.”
  14. 2 Samuel 14:11 tn Heb “of your son.”
  15. 2 Samuel 14:14 tn Heb “he devises plans for the one banished from him not to be banished.”
  16. 2 Samuel 14:15 tc The LXX (ὄψεταί με, opsetai me) has misunderstood the Hebrew יֵרְאֻנִי (yereʾuni, Piel perfect, “they have made me fearful”), taking the verb to be a form of the verb רָאָה (raʾah, “to see”) rather than the verb יָרֵא (yareʾ, “to fear”). The fact that the Greek translators were working with an unvocalized Hebrew text (i.e., consonants only) made them very susceptible to this type of error.
  17. 2 Samuel 14:15 tn Here and in v. 16 the woman refers to herself as the king’s אָמָה (ʾamah), a term that refers to a higher level female servant toward whom the master might have some obligation. Like the other term, this word expresses her humility, but it also suggests that the king might have some obligation to treat her in accordance with the principles of justice.
  18. 2 Samuel 14:16 tn Or “for.”
  19. 2 Samuel 14:16 tn Or “will.” The imperfect verbal form can have either an indicative or modal nuance. The use of “perhaps” in v. 15b suggests the latter here.
  20. 2 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “in order to deliver his maid.”
  21. 2 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “destroy.”
  22. 2 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “from the inheritance of God.” The expression refers to the property that was granted to her family line in the division of the land authorized by God.
  23. 2 Samuel 14:19 tn Heb “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?”
  24. 2 Samuel 14:20 tn Heb “to know all that is in the land.”
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2 Samuel 14:1-20
New International Version

Absalom Returns to Jerusalem

14 Joab(A) son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa(B) and had a wise woman(C) brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions.(D) Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead. 3 Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab(E) put the words in her mouth.

4 When the woman from Tekoa went[a] to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, Your Majesty!”

5 The king asked her, “What is troubling you?”

She said, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death(F) for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir(G) as well.’ They would put out the only burning coal I have left,(H) leaving my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth.”

8 The king said to the woman, “Go home,(I) and I will issue an order in your behalf.”

9 But the woman from Tekoa said to him, “Let my lord the king pardon(J) me and my family,(K) and let the king and his throne be without guilt.(L)”

10 The king replied, “If anyone says anything to you, bring them to me, and they will not bother you again.”

11 She said, “Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger(M) of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed.”

“As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “not one hair(N) of your son’s head will fall to the ground.(O)”

12 Then the woman said, “Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.”

“Speak,” he replied.

13 The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself,(P) for the king has not brought back his banished son?(Q) 14 Like water(R) spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die.(S) But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person(T) does not remain banished from him.

15 “And now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; perhaps he will grant his servant’s request. 16 Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’(U)

17 “And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king secure my inheritance, for my lord the king is like an angel(V) of God in discerning(W) good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”

18 Then the king said to the woman, “Don’t keep from me the answer to what I am going to ask you.”

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

19 The king asked, “Isn’t the hand of Joab(X) with you in all this?”

The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me to do this and who put all these words into the mouth of your servant. 20 Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom(Y) like that of an angel of God—he knows everything that happens in the land.(Z)”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 14:4 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts spoke
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