2 Samuel 14:5

5 And the king saith to her, `What -- to thee?' and she saith, `Truly a widow woman [am] I, and my husband dieth,

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 and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;' and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.

4 And the woman of Tekoah speaketh unto the king, and falleth on her face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and saith, `Save, O king.'

5 And the king saith to her, `What -- to thee?' and she saith, `Truly a widow woman [am] I, and my husband dieth,

6 and thy maid-servant hath two sons; and they strive both of them in a field, and there is no deliverer between them, and the one smiteth the other, and putteth him to death;

7 and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left -- so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.'