2 Samuel 14:5

5 "What is wrong?" the king asked her. "It's terrible!" she said. "I am a widow; my husband is dead.

2 Samuel 14:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 14:5

And the king said unto her, what aileth thee?
&c.] Or what is thy case? What is the condition, and what the circumstances, that thou art in, which require help and assistance? intimating that he was ready to grant it on knowledge thereof; however, he was ready to hear what she had to say:

and she answered, I [am] indeed a widow woman;
of a truth a widow, as the Targum; she was really one, a widow indeed, as in ( 1 Timothy 5:3 1 Timothy 5:5 ) ; not one that was separated from her husband, he being alive, or divorced from him on any account; and therefore she adds,

and mine husband is dead;
and has been a long time; this she said to move the pity and compassion of the king, who, as the supreme magistrate in God's stead, was a Father of the fatherless, and the judge of the widow.

2 Samuel 14:5 In-Context

3 Go to the king and speak to him as follows." Then Joab told her what to say.

4 When the woman from Tekoa came to the king, she fell facedown, bowing low out of respect. "King, help me!" she said.

5 "What is wrong?" the king asked her. "It's terrible!" she said. "I am a widow; my husband is dead.

6 Your servant had two sons, but the two of them fought in the field. No one could separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

7 Now the entire clan has turned against your servant. They say, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother so we can execute him for murdering his brother, even though we would destroy the heir as well.' So they would snuff out the one ember I have left, leaving my husband without name or descendant on the earth."