2 Samuel 14
14
David Permits Absalom to Return to Jerusalem
1 Now Joab son of Zeruiah realized that the king longed to see#tn Heb “the heart of the king was upon.” The Syriac Peshitta adds the verb ’ethre’i (“was reconciled”). Absalom. 2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning#tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action. and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time.#tn Heb “these many days.” 3 Go to the king and speak to him in the following fashion.” Then Joab told her what to say.#tn Heb “put the words in her mouth” (so NASB, NIV).
4 So the Tekoan woman went#tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא (vattavo’, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר (vatto’mer, “and she said”). The MT reading shows confusion with וַתֹּאמֶר later in the verse. The emendation suggested here is supported by the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, some mss of the Targum, and Vulgate. to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me,#tn The word “me” is left to be inferred in the Hebrew text; it is present in the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate. O king!” 5 The king replied to her, “What do you want?”#tn Heb “What to you?” She answered, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 Your servant#tn Here and elsewhere (vv. 7, 12, 15a, 17, 19) the woman uses a term which suggests a lower level female servant. She uses the term to express her humility before the king. However, she uses a different term in vv. 15b-16. See the note at v. 15 for a discussion of the rhetorical purpose of this switch in terminology. has two sons. When the two of them got into a fight in the field, there was no one present who could intervene. One of them struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death#tn Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition בְּ (bÿ, “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii, or bet (בְּ) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something. of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal,#sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line. leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”
8 Then the king told the woman, “Go to your home. I will give instructions concerning your situation.”#tn Heb “concerning you.” 9 The Tekoan woman said to the king, “My lord the king, let any blame fall on me and on the house of my father. But let the king and his throne be innocent!”
10 The king said, “Bring to me whoever speaks to you, and he won’t bother you again!” 11 She replied, “In that case,#tn The words “in that case” are not in the Hebrew text, but may be inferred from the context. They are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarification. let the king invoke the name of#tn Heb “let the king remember.” the Lord your God so that the avenger of blood may not kill! Then they will not destroy my son!” He replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of your son’s head#tn Heb “of your son.” will fall to the ground.”
12 Then the woman said, “Please permit your servant to speak to my lord the king about another matter.” He replied, “Tell me.” 13 The woman said, “Why have you devised something like this against God’s people? When the king speaks in this fashion, he makes himself guilty, for the king has not brought back the one he has banished. 14 Certainly we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored.#tn Heb “he devises plans for the one banished from him not to be banished.” 15 I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful.#tc The LXX (ὄψεταί με, opsetai me) has misunderstood the Hebrew יֵרְאֻנִי (yerÿ’uni, Piel perfect, “they have made me fearful”), taking the verb to be a form of the verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) rather than the verb יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”). The fact that the Greek translators were working with an unvocalized Hebrew text (i.e., consonants only) made them very susceptible to this type of error. But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant#tn Here and in v. 16 the woman refers to herself as the king’s אָמָה (’amah), a term that refers to a higher level female servant toward whom the master might have some obligation. Like the other term, this word expresses her humility, but it also suggests that the king might have some obligation to treat her in accordance with the principles of justice. asks. 16 Yes!#tn Or “for.” The king may#tn Or “will.” The imperfect verbal form can have either an indicative or modal nuance. The use of “perhaps” in v. 15b suggests the latter here. listen and deliver his female servant#tn Heb “in order to deliver his maid.” from the hand of the man who seeks to remove#tn Heb “destroy.” both me and my son from the inheritance God has given us!’#tn Heb “from the inheritance of God.” The expression refers to the property that was granted to her family line in the division of the land authorized by God. 17 So your servant said, ‘May the word of my lord the king be my security, for my lord the king is like the angel of God when it comes to deciding between right and wrong! May the Lord your God be with you!’”
18 Then the king replied to the woman, “Don’t hide any information from me when I question you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak!” 19 The king said, “Did Joab put you up to all of this?”#tn Heb “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant’s mouth. 20 Your servant Joab did this so as to change this situation. But my lord has wisdom like that of the angel of God, and knows everything that is happening in the land.”#tn Heb “to know all that is in the land.”
21 Then the king said to Joab, “All right! I#tc Many medieval Hebrew mss have “you” rather than “I.” will do this thing! Go and bring back the young man Absalom! 22 Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked#tn Heb “blessed.” the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your#tc The present translation reads with the Qere “your” rather than the MT “his.” servant!”
23 So Joab got up and went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 24 But the king said, “Let him go over#tn Heb “turn aside.” to his own house. He may not see my face.” So Absalom went over#tn Heb “turned aside.” to his own house; he did not see the king’s face.
25 Now in all Israel everyone acknowledged that there was no man as handsome as Absalom.#tn Heb “Like Absalom there was not a handsome man in all Israel to boast exceedingly.” From the sole of his feet to the top of his head he was perfect in appearance.#tn Heb “there was not in him a blemish.” 26 When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long#tn Heb “for it was heavy upon him.” and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds#tn Heb “two hundred shekels.” The modern equivalent would be about three pounds (1.4 kg). according to the king’s weight. 27 Absalom had#tn Heb “and there were born.” three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a very attractive woman.#tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And she became a wife to Rehoboam the son of Solomon and bore to him Abia.”
28 Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without seeing the king’s face. 29 Then Absalom sent a message to Joab asking him to send him to the king, but Joab was not willing to come to him. So he sent a second message to him, but he still was not willing to come. 30 So he said to his servants, “Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire.”#tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And the servants of Absalom burned them up. And the servants of Joab came to him, rending their garments. They said….” So Absalom’s servants set Joab’s#tn The word “Joab’s” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. portion of the field on fire.
31 Then Joab got up and came to Absalom’s house. He said to him, “Why did your servants set my portion of field on fire?” 32 Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent a message to you saying, ‘Come here so that I can send you to the king with this message:#tn Heb “saying.” “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.”’ Let me now see the face of the king. If I am at fault, let him put me to death!”
33 So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king#tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject. summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity. bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him.#tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.
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2 Samuel 14
14
1Then Ioab the sonne of Zeruiah perceyued, that the Kings heart was toward Absalom, 2And Ioab sent to Tekoah, and brought thence a subtile woman, and sayd vnto her, I pray thee, fayne thy selfe to mourne, and nowe put on mourning apparel, and anoynt not thy selfe with oyle: but be as a woman that had now long time mourned for the dead. 3And come to the King, and speake on this maner vnto him, (for Ioab taught her what she should say). 4Then the woman of Tekoah spake vnto the king, and fel downe on her face to the ground, and did obeysance, and sayd, Helpe, O King. 5Then the King sayd vnto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am in deede a widow, and mine husband is dead: 6And thine handmayd had two sonnes, and they two stroue together in the fielde: (and there was none to part them) so the one smote the other, and slew him. 7And beholde, the whole familie is risen against thine handmayde, and they sayde, Deliuer him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the soule of his brother whome hee slewe, that we may destroy the heire also: so they shall quenche my sparkle which is left, and shall not leaue to mine husband neither name nor posteritie vpon the earth. 8And the King said vnto the woman, Go to thine house, and I wil giue a charge for thee. 9Then the woman of Tekoah said vnto the King, My lord, O King, this trespas be on me, and on my fathers house, and the King and his throne be giltlesse. 10And the King sayde, Bring him to me that speaketh against thee, and he shall touche thee no more. 11Then said she, I pray thee, let the King remember the Lord thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer many reuengers of blood to destroy, lest they slay my sonne. And he answered, As the Lord liueth, there shall not one heare of thy sonne fall to the earth. 12Then the woman said, I pray thee, let thine handmayde speake a worde to my lord the King. And he sayd, Say on. 13Then the woman sayde, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? or why doeth the King, as one which is faultie, speake this thing, that he will not bring againe his banished? 14For we must needes dye, and we are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered vp againe: neither doeth God spare any person, yet doeth he appoynt meanes, not to cast out from him, him that is expelled. 15Nowe therefore that I am come to speake of this thing vnto my lord the King, the cause is that the people haue made me afrayd: therefore thine handmayde sayd, Nowe will I speake vnto the King: it may be that the King will perfourme the request of his handmayde. 16For the King wil heare, to deliuer his handmayde out of the hande of the man that woulde destroy mee, and also my sonne from the inheritance of God. 17Therefore thine handmaid sayd, The word of my lord the King shall now be comfortable: for my lorde the King is euen as an Angel of God in hearing of good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God be with thee. 18Then the King answered, and said vnto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall aske thee. And the woman sayde, Let my lord the King now speake. 19And the King said, Is not the hand of Ioab with thee in all this? Then the woman answered, and sayd, As thy soule liueth, my lord the King, I will not turne to the right hande nor to the left, from ought that my lorde the King hath spoken: for euen thy seruant Ioab bade mee, and he put all these wordes in the mouth of thine handmayde. 20For to the intent that I should chage the forme of speach, thy seruant Ioab hath done this thing: but my lord is wise according to the wisdome of an Angel of God to vnderstande all things that are in the earth. 21And the King sayde vnto Ioab, Beholde nowe, I haue done this thing: go then, and bring the yong man Absalom againe. 22And Ioab fell to the grounde on his face, and bowed himselfe, and thanked the King. Then Ioab sayde, This day thy seruant knoweth, that I haue found grace in thy sight, my lord the King, in that the King hath fulfilled the request of his seruant. 23And Ioab arose, and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Ierusalem. 24And the King sayde, Let him turne to his owne house, and not see my face. So Absalom turned to his owne house, and saw not the Kings face. 25Nowe in all Israel there was none to be so much praysed for beautie as Absalom: from the sole of his foote euen to the toppe of his head there was no blemish in him. 26And when he polled his head, (for at euery yeeres ende he polled it: because it was too heauie for him, therefore he polled it) he weyghed the heare of his head at two hundreth shekels by the Kings weight. 27And Absalom had three sonnes, and one daughter named Tamar, which was a fayre woman to looke vpon. 28So Absalom dwelt the space of two yeres in Ierusalem, and saw not the Kings face. 29Therefore Absalom sent for Ioab to sende him to the King, but he would not come to him: and when he sent againe, he would not come. 30Therefore he sayde vnto his seruants, Beholde, Ioab hath a fielde by my place, and hath barley therein: go, and set it on fire: and Absaloms seruants set the field on fire. 31Then Ioab arose, and came to Absalom vnto his house, and sayd vnto him, Wherefore haue thy seruants burnt my field with fire? 32And Absalom answered Ioab, Beholde, I sent for thee, saying, Come thou hither, and I wil send thee to the King for to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? It had bene better for me to haue bene there still: nowe therefore let mee see the Kings face: and if there be any trespasse in me, let him kill me. 33Then Ioab came to the King, and told him: and he called for Absalom, who came to the King, and bowed himselfe to the grounde on his face before the King, and the King kissed Absalom.
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