2 Samuel 14:4

4 When the woman from Tekoa went^[a] to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, Your Majesty!”

2 Samuel 14:4 in Other Translations

4 And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

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

4 When the woman from Tekoa approached the king, she bowed with her face to the ground in deep respect and cried out, “O king! Help me!”

4 The woman of Tekoa went to the king, bowed deeply before him in homage, and said, "O King, help!"

4 And when the woman of Tekoa spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

4 The woman from Tekoa came to the king and immediately bowed down with her face touching the ground. "Help [me], Your Majesty," she said.

4 When the woman from Tekoa came to the king, she fell with her face to the ground in homage and said, "Help me, my king!"

4 The woman from Tekoa went to the king. She bowed down with her face toward the ground. She did it to show him respect. She said, "King David, please help me!"

2 Samuel 14:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 14:4

And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king
Or after she had spoken to him, being introduced by Joab, as is probable; when she had saluted him with God save the king, or May the king live, or some such like expressions:

she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance;
to him as her king, in reverence of his majesty:

and said, help, O king;
signifying that she was in great distress, and came to him for assistance and deliverance.

2 Samuel 14:4 In-Context

2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead.

3 Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.

4 When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, Your Majesty!”

5 The king asked her, “What is troubling you?” She said, “I am a widow; my husband is dead.

6 I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him.

Footnotes

• [a]. Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts "spoke"