2 Samuel 14:17

17 And your servant thought, 'The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,' for my lord the king is 1like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The LORD your God be with you!"

2 Samuel 14:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 14:17

Then thine handmaid said, the word of my lord the king shall
now be comfortable
Or, "for rest" F17; what will give ease and satisfaction not only to her, but to all the people of Israel, when they shall hear of the king's intention and resolution to bring back Absalom:

for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king;
as they are very wise, knowing, and understanding creatures, so was David:

to discern good and bad;
to hear both the one and the other, and to discern the difference between them, and choose and pursue what is right, as in all other things, so in the present case:

therefore the Lord thy God shall be with thee;
as to counsel and advise, so to assist in performance, and to prosper and succeed; the Targum is,

``the Word of the Lord thy God shall be for thine help.''


FOOTNOTES:

F17 (hxnml) "ad requiem", Pagninus, Montanus; "ad tranquillitatem", Tigurine version; "ad quietem", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

2 Samuel 14:17 In-Context

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 the 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 like 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, "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; it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 2 Samuel 19:27; 1 Samuel 29:9
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.