2 Samuel 14

Absalom Returns to Jerusalem

1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew ¹that the king's heart went out to Absalom.

2 And Joab sent to ²Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, "Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. ³Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead.

3 Go to the king and speak thus to him." So Joab ⁴put the words in her mouth.

4 When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, ⁵she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, ⁶"Save me, O king."

5 And the king said to her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, ⁷"Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead.

6 And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

7 And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, 'Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.' And so they would ⁸destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor ⁹remnant on the face of the earth."

8 Then the king said to the woman, "Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you."

9 And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, ¹⁰"On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless."

10 The king said, "If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again."

11 Then she said, "Please let the king invoke the LORD your God, that ¹¹the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed." He said, ¹²"As the LORD lives, ¹³not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground."

12 Then the woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king." He said, "Speak."

13 And the woman said, "Why then have you planned such a thing against ¹⁴the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring ¹⁵his banished one home again.

14 We must all die; we are ¹⁶like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means ¹⁷so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.

15 Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.

16 For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from ¹⁸the heritage of God.'

17 And your servant thought, 'The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,' for my lord the king is ¹⁹like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The LORD your God be with you!"

18 Then the king answered the woman, "Do not hide from me anything I ask you." And the woman said, "Let my lord the king speak."

19 The king said, "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?" The woman answered and said, ²⁰"As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; ²¹it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant.

20 In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of ²²the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth."

21 Then the king said to Joab, "Behold now, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom."

22 And Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage ²³and blessed the king. And Joab said, "Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant."

23 So Joab arose and went to ²⁴Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

24 And the king said, "Let him dwell apart in his own house; he is not to come into my presence." So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king's presence.

25 Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. ²⁵From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

26 And when he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he ²⁶cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels^[a] by the king's weight.

27 There were born ²⁷to Absalom three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman.

28 So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without coming into the king's presence.

29 Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. And he sent a second time, but Joab would not come.

30 Then he said to his servants, "See, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire." So Absalom's servants set the field on fire.^[b]

31 Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, "Why have your servants set my field on fire?"

32 Absalom answered Joab, "Behold, I sent word to you, 'Come here, that I may send you to the king, to ask, "Why have I come from ²⁸Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still." Now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, ²⁹and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.'"

33 Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.

2 Samuel 14 Commentary

Chapter 14

Joab procures Absalom's recall. (1-20) Absalom recalled. (21-24) His personal beauty. (25-27) He is admitted to his father's presence. (28-33)

Verses 1-20 We may notice here, how this widow pleads God's mercy, and his clemency toward poor guilty sinners. The state of sinners is a state of banishment from God. God pardons none to the dishonour of his law and justice, nor any who are impenitent; nor to the encouragement of crimes, or the hurt of others.

Verses 21-24 David was inclined to favour Absalom, yet, for the honour of his justice, he could not do it but upon application made for him, which may show the methods of Divine grace. It is true that God has thoughts of compassion toward poor sinners, not willing that any should perish; yet he is only reconciled to them through a Mediator, who pleads on their behalf. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and Christ came to this land of our banishment, to bring us to God.

Verses 25-27 Nothing is said of Absalom's wisdom and piety. All here said of him is, that he was very handsome. A poor commendation for a man that had nothing else in him valuable. Many a polluted, deformed soul dwells in a fair and comely body. And we read that he had a very fine head of hair. It was a burden to him, but he would not cut it as long as he could bear the weight. That which feeds and gratifies pride, is not complained of, though uneasy. May the Lord grant us the beauty of holiness, and the adorning of a meek and quiet spirit! Only those who fear God are truly happy.

Verses 28-33 By his insolent carriage toward Joab, Absalom brought Joab to plead for him. By his insolent message to the king, he gained his wishes. When parents and rulers countenance such characters, they will soon suffer the most fatal effects. But did the compassion of a father prevail to reconcile him to an impenitent son, and shall penitent sinners question the compassion of Him who is the Father of mercies?

Cross References

• 1. 2 Samuel 13:39
• 2. 2 Chronicles 11:6; 2 Chronicles 20:20; Amos 1:1
• 3. [2 Samuel 12:20; Ruth 3:3]
• 4. ver. 19; [Exodus 4:15]
• 5. 2 Samuel 1:2
• 6. 2 Kings 6:26
• 7. See 2 Samuel 12:1
• 8. [Matthew 21:38; Mark 12:7; Luke 20:14]
• 9. [Genesis 45:7]
• 10. 1 Samuel 25:24
• 11. Numbers 35:19, 21; Deuteronomy 19:12
• 12. See Ruth 3:13
• 13. 1 Samuel 14:45; Acts 27:34
• 14. Judges 20:2
• 15. [2 Samuel 13:37, 38]
• 16. [1 Samuel 7:6]
• 17. Num. 35:15, 25, 28
• 18. See 1 Samuel 26:19
• 19. 2 Samuel 19:27; 1 Samuel 29:9
• 20. 1 Samuel 1:26
• 21. ver. 3
• 22. [See ver. 17 above]
• 23. 1 Kings 8:66
• 24. 2 Samuel 13:38
• 25. Deuteronomy 28:35; Job 2:7; Isaiah 1:6
• 26. Ezekiel 44:20
• 27. [2 Samuel 18:18]
• 28. [See ver. 23 above]
• 29. 1 Samuel 20:8

Footnotes

• [a]. A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
• [b]. Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll add So Joab's servants came to him with their clothes torn, and they said to him, "The servants of Absalom have set your field on fire."

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 14

This chapter relates that Joab, perceiving David's inclination to bring back Absalom, employed a wise woman of Tekoah to lay before him a feigned case of hers, drawn up by Joab, whereby this point was gained from the king, that murder might be dispensed with in her case, 2Sa 14:1-20; which being applied to the case of Absalom, and the king finding out that the hand of Joab was in this, sent for him, and ordered him to bring Absalom again, though as yet he would not see his face, 2Sa 14:21-24; and after some notice being taken of the beauty of Absalom's person, particularly of his head of hair, and of the number of his children, 2Sa 14:25-27; it is related, that after two full years Absalom was uneasy that he might not see the king's face, and sent for Joab, who refused to come to him, till he found means to oblige him to it, who, with the king's leave, introduced him to him, 2Sa 14:28-33.