2 Samuel 14:30

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

2 Samuel 14:30 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 14:30

Therefore he said unto his servants
That did his business for him in the field, in keeping his flocks, and tilling his ground:

see Joab's field is near mine:
for great personages in those days attended to husbandry:

and he hath barley there, go and set it on fire;
it being ripe, and so capable of being fired, and therefore must be some time in March or April, when barley harvest began; he served Joab as Samson did the Philistines, ( Judges 15:4 ) ; which shows him to be a bold, and revengeful, and ungrateful man, to use his friend, and the general of the king's army, after this manner:

and Absalom's servants set the field on fire;
as their master had bid them, and which is no wonder; for as they murdered Ammon at his command, they would not stop at burning Joab's field, when he bid them do it; see ( 2 Samuel 13:28 2 Samuel 13:29 ) .

2 Samuel 14:30 In-Context

28 Absalom resided in Jerusalem two years but never saw the king.

29 Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come. So he sent again, a second time, but he still wouldn't come.

30 Then Absalom said to his servants, "See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it!" So Absalom's servants set the field on fire.

31 Then Joab came to Absalom's house and demanded, "Why did your servants set my field on fire?"

32 "Look," Absalom explained to Joab, "I sent for you and said, 'Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? I'd be better off if I were still there.' So now, let me see the king. If I am guilty, let him kill me."

Footnotes

• [a]. DSS, LXX add So Joab's servants came to him with their clothes torn and said, "Absalom's servants have set the field on fire!"
• [b]. Jdg 15:3-5