2 Samuel 19:12

12 You are my relatives! You are my flesh and bones! Why should you be the last to bring the king back?'

2 Samuel 19:12 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 19:12

Ye [are] my brethren, ye [are] my bones and my flesh
Being of the same tribe, and therefore he should deal gently with them, as if they were parts of his body; and not be severe upon them, for the hand they had in the conspiracy, as they might fear:

and wherefore then are ye the last to bring the king back?
since they were so nearly related to him, and he so ready to forgive them.

2 Samuel 19:12 In-Context

10 And Absalom, the one we anointed over us, is dead in battle. So why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?"

11 When the things that all the Israelites were saying reached the king, David sent a message to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: "Say the following to the elders of Judah: ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace?

12 You are my relatives! You are my flesh and bones! Why should you be the last to bring the king back?'

13 And tell Amasa, ‘Aren't you my flesh and bones too? May God deal harshly with me and worse still if you don't become commander of my army from now on instead of Joab!'"

14 So he won over the hearts of everyone in Judah as though they were one person, and they sent word to the king: "Come back—you and all your servants."