2 Samuel 14 Study Notes

14:1 Joab saw David’s wounded heart, so he devised a plan to help heal the family and let David focus more on the matters of the kingdom.

14:2-3 Tekoa was approximately seven miles southwest of Jerusalem. Perhaps Joab thought Tekoa was far enough away that David would not recognize someone from there. Joab intended the wise woman to play a dramatic role that would influence the king to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem.

14:4 The clever woman (v. 2) came to the king and acted as if she were seeking David’s judgment on a matter.

14:5-7 The woman’s story recalls that of Cain and Abel (Gn 4:8-16). The woman’s clan was attempting to execute justice and put her living son to death. They were supposedly fulfilling the role of blood avenger (v. 11; cp. Nm 35:9-29; Dt 19:4-13; Jos 20:1-9). However, if they killed the brother who killed his brother under extreme circumstances, they also would eliminate the heir to the woman’s estate, and her husband’s family name would come to an end.

14:8 David assured the woman that he would issue a command protecting her living son, but the woman’s words in vv. 9-11 suggest the matter was not settled in her mind.

14:9 The woman’s words suggested she had put David in a difficult position to let a murderer go free, and she asked that any blame rest on her and her family.

14:10 David further assured her that no one would trouble her any more.

14:11 The woman persisted, asking David to invoke an oath before the Lord that her son would not die. David vowed that everything would be okay.

14:12 The woman had received her judgment, but she broke protocol and requested a chance to speak a further word to the king—a request David granted.

14:13 The woman gently but precisely drew a parallel between her situation and David’s. Her words the king . . . has pronounced his own guilt implied David was unwilling to give himself the same judgment he gave the woman. He was unwilling to restore Absalom, who had murdered Amnon.

14:14 The woman also appealed to God’s grace. The Lord takes sin seriously, but he also tries to restore the one banished from him.

14:15-16 The woman acted as though she was returning to the matter of her son and her inheritance.

14:17 The woman’s closing words were somewhat ambiguous in their application. Would the word of . . . the king bring relief for her or for David? Her blessing, May the Lord your God be with you, may have hinted that just as the king could discern the good and the bad for others (19:27; 1Sm 29:9), perhaps with God’s help he could discern for himself the wisest thing to do about Absalom.

14:18 David was indeed discerning, and he suspected the woman’s collaboration with a member of the royal family.

14:19-20 The woman confessed that Joab had used her to address the issue indirectly, but David had seen through her presentation.

14:21 Despite David’s recognition of Joab’s ploy, he asked his nephew to bring Absalom from Geshur.

14:22 Joab appeared pleased to have played a part in beginning the reconciliation process between David and Absalom.

14:23-24 Ironically, David gave Absalom permission to return to his house, but he would not give Absalom an audience. David’s “halfway” decision only inflamed the tension between himself and his son.

14:25 The description of Absalom’s physical appearance makes him sound like a leader, and it prepares the reader for Absalom’s coup attempt in chap. 15.

14:26 Five pounds is literally “two hundred shekels.” Many manuscripts say “one hundred shekels.” Absalom’s thick hair would have made him appear strong and powerful to many people.

14:27 Absalom had a daughter named Tamar. This was his way of honoring his sister.

14:28-30 Both David and Absalom lived in Jerusalem, but they did not speak to each other for two years as the tension between them mounted. Absalom knew if he set the field of Joab on fire, Joab could no longer avoid talking to him as he had done up to that point.

14:31-32 Absalom asked Joab to get him an audience with David. He suggested it would have been preferable for him to remain in Geshur. Absalom wanted his father to decide once and for all how he would handle his murder of Amnon.

14:33 Absalom finally met with his father, David, but this one meeting would not heal a wound that had festered for five years (v. 28; 13:38).