A verse by verse commentary on 2 SAMUEL 14 dealing with Absalom returning to Jerusalem where a woman of Tekoa persuaded David to let his son come home. Eventually David welcomes his son and kissed him.

1. 2 SAMUEL 14 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Absalom Returns to Jerusalem
1 Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart
longed for Absalom.
GILL, "Now Joab the son of Zeruiah,.... The general of David's army:
perceived that the king's heart was towards Absalom; and longed to have
him returned, though he knew not how to bring it about with credit to himself, his
crime being so foul, and worthy of death. This Joab perceived by some words he now
and then dropped, and by his conduct, not seeking by any ways and means to bring
him to justice, and being now reconciled to the death of Amnon; wherefore Joab
devised a way to make known to him his own mind, and the sense of the people,
which would serve to encourage him to restore him; and the rather Joab was inclined
to take such a step, as he knew it would establish him in the king's favour, and
ingratiate him into the affection of Absalom, the next heir to the crown, as well as
please the people, whose darling he was. Though Abarbinel is of opinion that Joab
proceeded upon another view of things, not because he saw the heart and affection of
David were towards Absalom, but the reverse; that though David restrained himself
and his servants from going out after Absalom, yet Joab knew that the heart of the
king was against him, and that his heart was to take vengeance on him, though he did
not go out to seek him; he perceived there was still enmity and hatred in his heart to
take vengeance on Absalom, and therefore he took the following method to remove it,
and reconcile his mind to him; and so the Targum,"and Joab the son of Zeruiah knew
that the heart of the king was to go, out against Absalom;''and it may be observed,
that when Joab had so far prevailed upon him as to admit him to bring him back to
Jerusalem, he would not suffer him to see his face, nor did he for two years after.
HENRY, "Here is, I. Joab's design to get Absalom recalled out of banishment, his
crime pardoned, and his attainder reversed, 2Sa_14:1. Joab made himself very busy
in this affair. 1. As a courtier that was studious, by all ways possible, to ingratiate
himself with his prince and improve his interest in his favour: He perceived that the
king's heart was towards Absalom, and that, the heat of his displeasure being over,
he still retained his old affection for him, and only wanted a friend to court him to be
reconciled, and to contrive for him how he might do it without impeaching the
honour of his justice. Joab, finding how David stood affected, undertook this good
office. 2. As a friend to Absalom, for whom perhaps he had a particular kindness,
whom at least he looked upon as the rising sun, to whom it was his interest to
recommend himself. He plainly foresaw that his father would at length be reconciled
to him, and therefore thought he should make both his friends if he were
instrumental to bring it about. 3. As a statesman, and one concerned for the public
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2. welfare. He knew how much Absalom was the darling of the people, and, if David
should die while he was in banishment, it might occasion a civil war between those
that were for him and those that were against him; for it is probable that though all
Israel loved his person, yet they were much divided upon his case. 4. As one who was
himself a delinquent, by the murder of Abner. He was conscious to himself of the
guilt of blood, and that he was himself obnoxious to public justice, and therefore
whatever favour he could procure to be shown to Absalom would corroborate his
reprieve.
II. His contrivance to do it by laying somewhat of a parallel case before the king,
which was done so dexterously by the person he employed that the king took it for a
real case, and gave judgment upon it, as he had done upon Nathan's parable; and, the
judgment being in favour of the criminal, the manager might, by that, discover his
sentiments so far as to venture upon the application of it, and to show that it was the
case of his own family, which, it is probable, she was instructed not to proceed to if
the king's judgment upon her case should be severe.
K&D, "When Joab perceived that the king's heart was against Absalom, he sent
for a cunning woman from Tekoah, to work upon the king and change his mind, so
that he might grant forgiveness to Absalom. 2Sa_14:1 is understood by the majority
of commentators, in accordance with the Syriac and Vulgate, as signifying that Joab
learned that the king's heart was inclined towards Absalom, was well disposed
towards him again. But this explanation is neither philologically sustained, nor in
accordance with the context. ‫ב‬ ֵ‫,ל‬ written with ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ and without any verb, so that ‫ה‬ָ‫י‬ ָ‫ה‬ has
to be supplied, only occurs again in Dan_11:28, where the preposition has the
meaning “against.” It is no argument against this meaning here, that if David had
been ill disposed towards Absalom, there would have been no necessity to state that
Joab perceived it; for we cannot see why Joab should only have perceived or noticed
David's friendly feelings, and not his unfriendly feelings as well. If, however, Joab
had noticed the re-awakening of David's good feelings towards Absalom, there would
have been no necessity for him to bring the cunning woman from Tekoah to induce
him to consent to Absalom's return. Moreover, David would not in that case have
refused to allow Absalom to see his face for two whole years after his return to
Jerusalem (2Sa_14:24). Tekoah, the home of the prophet Amos, the present Tekua,
two hours to the south of Bethlehem (see at Jos_15:59, lxx). The “wise woman” was
to put on mourning, as a woman who had been mourning for a long while for some
one that was dead (‫ל‬ ֵ ፍ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫,ה‬ to set or show herself mourning), and to go to the king in
this attire, and say what Joab had put into her mouth.
CONSTABLE, "Joab's scheme to secure Absalom's pardon 14:1-20
Evidently Joab (David's commander-in-chief and nephew by his half-sister, Zeruiah; 1
Chron. 2:16) concluded that it would be politically better for David and Israel if David
brought Absalom back to Jerusalem from Geshur (cf. vv. 7, 13-15). Absalom was, of
course, now David's heir to the throne by custom, though Yahweh had designated
Solomon to succeed his father. David had a great love for Absalom even though he
was a murderer (v. 1; cf. 13:37, 39). David had a large capacity to love; he loved God
and many other people greatly. Often people who love greatly find it difficult to
confront and discipline.
The story Joab gave the actress from Tekoa (10 miles south of Jerusalem) to tell
duplicated David's own problem with Absalom (cf. the story that God had put in
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3. Nathan's mouth, 12:1-4). By putting the murderer to death, the woman's hostile
relatives would have deprived her of her means of support (v. 7; cf. the story of Cain
and Abel, Gen. 4:1-8). By putting Absalom to death, David would have deprived
himself of his heir, which Joab evidently perceived Absalom to be. Since David
promised not to execute the woman's son (v. 11) it was inconsistent for him to refrain
from pardoning Absalom (v. 13). The wise woman urged David to remember the
LORD his God, specifically, Hismercy (v. 11).
"David's reference to the 'hair' of the woman's 'son' is both ironic and
poignant: The hair of his own son Absalom was not only an index of his
handsome appearance (cf. vv. 25-26) but would also contribute to his
undoing (cf. 18:9-15)."233 The woman's references to "the people of God" (i.e., Israel,
v. 13; cf. vv. 14-15, 17) point to popular support for Absalom and a common desire
that David would pardon him and allow him to return to Jerusalem.
David had personally experienced God's mercy and had escaped death for his adultery
and murder (12:13). The woman appealed to David to deal with Absalom as God had
dealt with him or the nation would suffer (v. 14). Verse 14 is a key verse in this
chapter.The wise actress reminded David that God does not take away life, that is, He
does not delight in punishing people. Rather He plans ways by which guilty people
can enjoy reconciliation with Himself. The Cross is the greatest historical proof of this
truth. Judgment is God's "strange" work (Isa. 28:21); mercy is what He delights to
display. Thus David should be godly and make a way to show mercy to Absalom
rather than punishing him with death, according to Joab.
233Youngblood, pp. 978-79.
David knew that Joab wanted him to pardon Absalom. He sensed that the woman's
arguments had come from him (vv. 18-19). Joab had written the script for the little
skitthat she had performed (vv. 19-20).
"Ironically, Joab's demise begins at precisely the point where another
woman (Bathsheba) is sent to the king by a thoroughly self-interested [?]
statesman (Nathan) in order to foil the succession of the next in line after
Absalom (Adonijah) and so to secure the crown for Solomon (1 Ki 1.11-31)."234
PULPIT, "The king's heart was toward Absalom. Again there is a diversity of view as
to the right rendering. The preposition does not usually mean "toward," but "against,"
and is so rendered in 2 Samuel 14:13. The whole phrase occurs again only in Daniel
11:28, and certainly there implies enmity. The whole attitude of David towards
Absalom is one of persistent hostility, and, even when Joab had obtained his recall,
for two full years he would not admit him into his presence. What has led most
commentators to force the meaning here and in 2 Samuel 13:39 is the passionate burst
of grief when news was brought of Absalom's death following upon the anxious
orders given to the generals to be careful of the young man's life. But David was a
man of very warm affections, and while this would make him feel intense sorrow for
the death of a son by his brother's hand, and stern indignation towards the murderer,
there would still lie deep in the father's heart true love towards his sinning child, and
Absalom's fall was sad enough to cause a strong revulsion of feeling. David's grief
would be not merely for the death of his son, but that he should have died so
miserably, and in an attempt so shameful. Was not, too, the natural grief of a father
made the more deep by the feeling that this was the third stage of the penalty
denounced on his own sin, and that the son's death was the result of the father's crime?
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4. PINK, "It was fleshly sentiment, and not a concern for God’s glory, which
moved David to authorize Joab to bring back Absalom. Some of our readers may
regard this as a harsh verdict and say, "Possibly the writer is not a parent, if he
were, perhaps he would better understand the case before him. Was not David
actuated by love for his erring son? Surely God does not expect His people to be
without natural affection." Ah, dear reader, the claims of the Lord are both high
and comprehensive, and His requirements much more exacting than many like to
recognize. Right eyes are to be plucked out and right hands cut off (Matthew
5:29,30)—things which are very dear to us—if they prove a hindrance to our
treading the Narrow Way; and that is indeed a painful sacrifice, is it not?—so
painful, that nothing short of the supernatural but sufficient grace of God can
enable any of us thereunto.
"If any man come to Me," said the Lord Christ, "and hate not his father, and mother,
and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot
be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). No wonder that He bade intending disciples to "set
down first and count the cost" (Luke 14:28). Christ will be Lord of all, or He will not
be Lord at all. He requires the throne of our hearts, and all other interests and
inclinations must bow before His sovereign will. Alas, how little are His claims
emphasized today! How His holy standard has been lowered! How His Gospel has
been cheapened! How maudlin sentimentality now ousts the principles of holiness in
the great majority of those who bear His name! How those who endeavor, in their
feeble way, to press the divine requirements are now condemned as being heartless
and censorious.
"But surely a Christian is not required to become an unemotional stoic, devoid of all
natural affection." No, indeed; grace in the heart does not harden, but softens.
Nevertheless, holiness, and not carnal sentiment, is to dominate the Christian. Natural
affections are not to be granted a lawless license, but are to be regulated by the
precepts of Scripture. A Christian is permitted to lament the death of a fellow-
believer, yet is he bidden to "sorrow not even as others which have no hope" (1 Thess.
4:13). We are exhorted to mortify "inordinate affection" (Col. 3:5), that is, lawless and
excessive fondness. And sometimes we have to choose—as David did—between
honoring God by an obedience which requires us to set aside the yearnings of nature,
or dishonor Him by yielding to fleshly emotions: in such a case self (the natural man)
is to be denied.
Take it on its lowest ground. Do not those parents defeat their own ends who, from a
miscalled "love," fail to deal sternly with the disobedience and defiance of their little
ones; and who when their children are grown up, wink at their sins? How many a
shiftless youth, whose every whim is gratified by his doting mother, develops into a
worthless wastrel! How many a flighty daughter is allowed her own way, under the
pretext of "letting her have a good time," only to end in her becoming a woman of the
streets! Even the natural man is responsible to bring his affections under the control of
his judgment, and not let his heart run away with his head. But the child of God is to
be regulated by far higher and holier principles, and is to subordinate the yearnings of
nature to the glory of God by obeying His commandments.
Now in his ordering Joab to Fetch back Absalom from Geshur, David acted according
to the dictates of "natural affection," and not out of any regard to the honor of the
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5. Lord. Joab knew how to work upon his weakness, as is evident from the success of his
scheme through the woman of Tekoah. She so wrought upon his sentiments that he
rashly gave a verdict in favor of the criminal depicted in her story; and then she
persuaded him to restore his treacherous son. Yet nothing could possibly justify him
in disregarding the divine law, which cried aloud for the avenging of Amnon. God had
given no commandment for his son to be restored, and therefore His blessing did not
attend it. David paid dearly for his foolish pity, as we shall see from the sequel; and
that is recorded for our learning. God grant that some parents at least who read these
lines will take this solemn lesson to heart.
"So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. And the king
said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned
to his own house, and saw not the king’s face" (vv. 23, 24). Previously we read that
"David mourned for his son every day" and "the soul of king David was consumed
(margin) to go forth unto Absalom" (13:37, 39), whereas now that he is brought back
to Jerusalem orders are given that he must not see the kings face. What a strange thing
human nature is! What expedients it will resort to and compromises it will make in
order to save its face. Possibly some of the more godly of David’s counselors had
demurred at his Routing of the Law, and maybe his own heart was uneasy over the
step he had taken; and so as a sop to his conscience, and in order to quiet the censures
of others, Absalom was confined to his own private dwelling.
Some writers are of the opinion that this measure of the king was designed for the
humbling of his son, hoping that he would now be brought to see the heinousness of
his sin and repent for it. But surely there had been sufficient time for that in his three
years’ sojourn in Geshur. No, we believe that what we have pointed out above is the
more likely explanation. By permitting Absalom to return to his own house David
exercised mercy, and by denying him entrance to the court he made a show of justice,
persuading himself by this interdict he evidenced his abhorrence of Amnon’s murder.
Nevertheless the fact remained that, as chief magistrate in Israel, David had set aside
the divine law. Therefore he must not be surprised if his wayward son now resorts to
further lawlessness, for there is no escape from the outworking of the principle of
sowing and reaping.
"But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty:
from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him"
(v. 25). How this reveals the low state of the Nation at that time! Absalom was not
esteemed for his moral worth, for he was utterly lacking in piety, wisdom, or justice.
His handsome physique was what appealed to the people. His abominable wickedness
was ignored, but his person was admired—which only served to increase his
arrogance, ending in his utter ruin. Alas, how often a corrupt mind indwells a sound
body. How sad it is to observe our decadent generation valuing physical beauty and
prowess more highly than moral virtues and spiritual graces. The allowing of his
luxuriant hair to grow to such a length, and then afterwards weighing it (v. 26), shows
the pride and effeminacy of the man. The three sons born to him (v. 27) evidently died
at an early age: see 18:18.
"So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king’s face. Therefore
Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him,
and when he sent again the second time, he would not come" (vv. 28, 29). In the light
of the immediate sequel it is clear that Absalom was chafing at his confinement (that
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6. he "sent for Joab" indicates he was virtually a prisoner in his own house) because it
interfered with the development of his evil plans, and that the reason why he was
anxious to be reconciled to the king was that he might obtain his liberty and thus be
able to win the Nation over to himself. Probably this was the reason why Joab
declined to visit him: suspecting his disloyal designs, knowing what a dangerous
character he was to be at large.
"Therefore he said unto his servants, See Joab’s field is near mine and he hath barley
there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire" (v. 30). He
was still the same self-willed character: "who is lord over us?" being the language of
all his actions. The three years he had spent at Geshur and his two years of isolation in
Jerusalem had wrought no change in him: his heart was not humbled and his pride
was not mortified. Instead of being thankful that his life has been spared, he deems
himself sorely wronged for being secluded from the court. Instead of being grateful to
Joab for bringing him back from Geshur, he now takes a mean revenge upon him
because he refused his present request. Such conduct displayed a self-will that would
brook no denial; a man of violence ready to go to any lengths in order to have his own
way. The fear of God was not in him, nor had he any respect for his neighbor.
"Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore
have thy servants set my field on fire?" (v. 31). At first sight it seems strange after
twice refusing to see Absalom, that now, after being insulted and injured, Joab should
grant his request, and mediate for him with the king; yet a little reflection will make it
clear. Joab was a shrewd politician, with his finger on the public’s pulse, and he knew
full well that Absalom stood high in the favor of the people (v. 25): and now that he
had further proof of the fury and power of the man—his servants being ready at his
bidding to do violence unto the property of the general of the army!—he was afraid
further to cross his will; and probably, with an eye to the future, he also wished to
keep in his good books.
"And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying. Come hither, that I
may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come From Geshur? it had been
good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king’s face; and if
there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me" (v. 32). What an arrogant and insolent
attitude to assume toward his royal parent: one which manifested the grossest
ingratitude, a contempt for the king’s authority, and a deliberate challenge for him to
enforce the law. Rightly did Matthew Henry point out, "His message was haughty and
imperious, and very unbecoming either a son or a subject. He undervalued the favour
that had been shown him in recalling him from banishment, and restoring him to his
own house. He denies his own crimes, though most notorious, and will not own that
there was any iniquity in him, insinuating that, therefore, he had been wronged in the
rebukes he had been under. He defies the king’s justice, ‘Let him kill me, if he can
find it in his heart,’ knowing he loved him too well to do it."
"So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he
came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king; and the
king kissed Absalom" (v. 33). Alas, notwithstanding his insulting rudeness Absalom
prevailed upon the king to yield. His better judgment blinded by intemperate affection
for his son, David invited Absalom to the palace. By prostrating himself before the
king Absalom feigned submission to his authority, yet his heart was full of base
designs to secure the throne for himself. David sealed his pardon with a kiss, instead
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7. of allowing the Law to take its course. As another has well said. "David’s inordinate
tenderness only paved the way for Absalom’s open rebellion. Terrible warning! Deal
tenderly with evil, and it will, assuredly, rise to a head and crush you in the end. On
the other hand, meet evil with a face of flint, and victory is sure. Sport not with the
serpent, but at once crush it beneath your feet."
Whilst all this trouble was brewing around David a strange passiveness seems to have
crept over him, and to have continued till his flight before Absalom. The narrative is
singularly silent about him. He appears to be paralyzed by the consciousness of his
past sins: he originated nothing. He dared not punish Amnon, and could only weep
when he heard of Absalom’s crime. He weakly craved for the return of the latter, but
could not bring himself to send for him till Joab urged it. A flash of his old kingliness
appeared for a moment in his refusal to see his son, but even that vanished when Joab
chose to insist that Absalom should return to the court. He had no will of his own, but
had become a mere tool in the hands of his fierce general—Joab having gained this
hold over him by his complicity in Uriah’s murder. At every step he was dogged by
the consequences of his own wrong-doings, even though God had pardoned his sins.
Beautifully did Alexander Maclaren, in his little work, "The Life of David as reflected
in his Psalms," throw light upon this particular stage of his career, and we feel we
cannot do our readers a better service than close this chapter with a rather lengthy
quotation therefrom. "It is not probable that many Psalms were made in those dreary
days. But the forty-first and fifty-fifth are with reasonable probability, referred to this
period by many commentators. They give a very touching picture of the old king
during the four years in which Absalom’s conspiracy was being hatched. It seems
from the forty-first that the pain and sorrow of his heart had brought on some serious
illness, which his enemies had used for their own purposes and embittered by
hypocritical condolences and ill-concealed glee. The sensitive nature of the Psalmist
winces under their heartless desertion of him, and pours our its plaint in this pathetic
lament. He begins with a blessing on those who ‘consider the afflicted’—having
reference, perhaps, to the few who were faithful to him in his languishing sickness. He
passes thence to his own case, and, after humble confession of his sin—almost in the
words of the fifty-first Psalm—he tells how his sick bed had been surrounded by
different visitors.
"His disease drew no pity, but only fierce impatience that he lingered in life so long.
‘Mine enemies speak evil of me—when will he die, and his name have perished?’ One
of them, in especial, who must have been a man in high position to gain access to the
sick chamber, has been conspicuous by his lying words of condolence. ‘If he come to
see me, he speaketh vanity.’ The sight of the sick king touched no cord of affection,
but only increased the traitor’s animosity—‘his heart gathered evil to itself’—and
then, having watched his pale face for wished-for unfavorable symptoms, the false
friend hurries from the bedside to talk of his hopeless illness—‘he goeth abroad, he
telleth it.’ The tidings spread, and are stealthily passed from one conspirator to
another: ‘all that hate me whisper together against me.’ They exaggerate the gravity of
his condition, and are glad because, making the wish the father to the thought, they
believe him dying—‘a thing of Belial’ (i.e. a destructive disease) say they, ‘is poured
out upon him, and now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more.
"We should be disposed to refer the thirty-ninth Psalm also to this period. It, too, is
the meditation of one in sickness, which he knows to be a divine judgment for his sin.
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8. There is little trace of enemies in it; but his attitude is that of silent submission, while
wicked men are disquieted around him—which is precisely the characteristic
peculiarity of his conduct at this period. It consists of two parts (vv. 1-6 and 7-13), in
both of which the subjects of his meditations are the same, but the tone of them
different. His own sickness and mortality, and man’s fleeting, shadowy life, are his
themes. The former has led him to think of the latter.
"It may be observed that this supposition of a protracted illness, which is based upon
these Psalms, throws light upon the singular passiveness of David during the maturing
of Absalom’s conspiracy, and may naturally be supposed to have favoured his
schemes, an essential part of which was to ingratiate himself with suitors who came to
the king for judgment, by affecting great regret that no man was deputed of the king to
hear them. The accumulation of untried causes, and the apparent disorganization of
the judicial machinery, are well accounted for by David’s sickness."
PULPIT, 2 Samuel 14:1-20
The facts are:
1. Joab, observing that the king's heart was still adverse to Absalom, devised, in order
to bring him round to a different feeling, that a wise woman from Tekoah should
appear before him and plead a cause.
2. The woman appears before the king, and narrates as facts certain circumstances,
namely,
3. David, touched with her story, undertakes to grant her request, whereupon the
woman, recognizing the usage in such cases, desires to exonerate the king from blame
in this exercise of his clemency.
4. The king giving her a renewed assurance of safety, should any reproach her for thus
trading on his clemency, she again, by a reference to God's presence and knowledge,
dwells on the royal promise; whereupon he swears most solemnly that the son shall be
spared.
5. The woman then ventures to bring the royal concession to her to bear on the case of
Absalom, by suggesting that, in granting her request as a just one, he virtually brings
blame on himself for cherishing revengeful feeling against a banished one, and he one
of the people of God.
6. She fortifies her argument by alluding to man's inevitable mortality and to God's
way of dealing with wrong doers, namely, that he devises means of restoring the exile.
7. Reverting to her own suit, she next pretends that the people's desire for vengeance
has caused the fear which prompts this her request, believing, as she does, in the
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9. king's magnanimity and superior discrimination.
8. David, perceiving that she is presenting a parabolic case, now asks whether Joab is
not at the origin of it, which, with an Oriental compliment to his discernment, she
candidly admits.
Astuteness in human affairs.
There are a few facts which, put together, seem to warrant the conclusion that David
was hostile in mind to Absalom, and that therefore the expression in 2 Samuel 14:1,
rendered "toward," should be "adverse to," ‫ַל‬‫ﬠ‬ . These facts are, his evident sorrow for
Amnon; the related flight of Absalom and absence for three years, but no mention of
any messenger of peace being sent to him; the necessity of the device of the wise
woman to awaken kindly interest in the king; and his unwillingness to see Absalom
lot two years after having yielded to the force of the argument for his restoration (2
Samuel 14:28). It was in the endeavour to overcome the king's hostility that Joab
manifested the remarkable astuteness of his nature. Taking Joab's conduct in this
instance as our exemplar, we may get an insight as to what constitutes the astuteness
in human affairs which then gave and always has given some men an advantage over
others.
I. THERE IS A SHREWD OBSERVATION OF EVENTS. Joab was not a mere
military man, whose range of observation was limited by his profession. He had his
eyes wide open to notice, in their bearing one on the other, the various incidents in the
history of Israel, embracing both the private and public life, king and people. The
remark that he perceived that the king's heart was adverse to Absalom is but an index
of the man's character. Some generals would simply have confined their attention to
military duties, paying little or no heed to what passed in the mind of the king, and
what was the effect of his attitude on the nation. The widely and minutely observant
eye is a great blessing, and, when under the government of a holy purpose, is a means
of personal and relative enrichment. All men astute in affairs have cultivated it with
zeal, and its activity and range account in part for the superiority they have acquired
over their fellow creatures. Human life is a voluminous book, ever being laid, page by
page, before us; and he who can with simple and steady glance note what is there
written, and treasure up the record for future use, has procured an advantage, which, in
days to come, will be converted into power. "The wise man's eyes are in his head; but
the fool walketh in darkness" (Ecclesiastes 2:14).
II. THERE IS A CONSTANT LOOKING AHEAD. This characteristic of Joab is seen
in many instances (e.g. 2 Samuel 11:16, 2 Samuel 11:18-20; 2 Samuel 12:28; 2
Samuel 13:19). He was a man who sought to forecast the issue of events at present
transpiring, or conditions that might arise to modify his plans. He seemed to see the
complications that might arise should Absalom be kept in perpetual exile, both on
account of his fine manly bearing being popular with the people, and of the possible
strife should the king die, and the exile then return to contend with a nominee of
David's. The prophetic forecast is a vision of coming reality; the forecast of astuteness
9

10. is the clever calculation of the bearings of passing events on what may be, the tracking
out by anticipation the working on men and things of the various forces now in
operation. In so far as a man possesses this quality, he certainly is a power in society,
and his opinions with reference to contingencies, and the provision wherewith to meet
them, should have weight. The degree to which some men injure themselves and
others because they have no prevision, no power of anticipating events, is often very
painful. In so far as this kind of prevision can be cultivated in early years, apart from
the cunning with which it is sometimes allied, so will be the gain for the entire life.
III. THERE IS A SEEKING OF PERSONAL ENDS COMBINED WITH PUBLIC
GOOD. Selfish cunning looks on, but looks only for self, and cares not for general
interests. Astuteness looks on, but seeks deliberately to combine the personal and the
general good. The former may be a prominent consideration, but the latter has a real
place sincerely given. In Joab we have a striking example of this. Even in the killing
of Abner Joab probably felt that the presence of such a rival might bring on troubles in
Israel. When, by complicity with David's sin (2 Samuel 11:17), he advanced his own
ambition by gaining power over David, he had an idea that the country would be the
stronger for king and general to be of one mind. His sending for David to conquer
Rabbah (2 Samuel 12:26-30) promoted his own influence over the king, and at the
same time gave the nation the advantage of a regal triumph. No doubt he foresaw that,
as Absalom was now the eldest son, he might possibly come to the throne, and hence
it was important to secure his favour by being the instrument of procuring his recall; at
the same time, he saw it would be better for king and people that this family quarrel
should be adjusted. There is no astuteness in pure benevolence, and there is no pure
benevolence in astuteness. Its characteristic is that it uses a knowledge of men and
things, and an anticipation of coming and possible events, in such a way as to secure
personal interests in promoting public good. There is too much conscience for pure
selfishness, and too little for pure benevolence. These children of the world are
certainly wise in their generation (Luke 16:8).
IV. THERE IS A SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE, AND OF THE
MEANS OF ACTING ON IT. Joab knew men—their foibles and their strength. He
had acquired that kind of penetration which comes of having much to do with men of
divers temperaments and preferences. He knew how to touch David's natural ambition
at Rabbah (2 Samuel 12:28-30). He understood how he would feign displeasure and
sorrow at the assault which brought about the death of Uriah, and how the courtiers
could be put off suspicion (2 Samuel 12:20, 2 Samuel 12:21). He knew that a story
appealing to generous, magnanimous feelings would be sure to touch the king's heart
(2 Samuel 14:2). This knowledge of men is an inestimable treasure for practical
purposes. Some persons never acquire it, and consequently are at a great disadvantage
in the struggle for life. Others avail themselves of it for low, cunning purposes, which
are more becoming fiends than men. The astute man, whose character is toned by a
moral aim, uses his knowledge to avoid some and secure the favour of others, and also
to bring men round to the furtherance of the objects he has in hand. There is not in
such a quality the simplicity which sometimes passes for Christian guilelessness; it
may even seem, in some cases, to savour of cunning; but there are instances in which
it combines the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness of the dove. The Apostle
10

11. Paul was certainly an astute Christian. He knew men, and how to deal with them on
Christian principles. His addresses before his judges and his Epistles bear witness.
GENERAL LESSONS.
1. All who wish to be effective in Christian service should endeavour to extend their
knowledge of human nature; for it is said of Christ that he knew what was in man
(John 2:25).
2. In seeking a more thorough knowledge of human nature, we should avoid the
risking the habitual feeling of distrust and suspicion which many of the sad facts of
life may well suggest; for our Saviour, who knew all that is in man, the worst and the
best, acted in his relations to them on the principle of generous consideration.
3. We should see to it that the intellectual qualities of astuteness are allied in us with
Christian qualities that will save us from low cunning and mere utilitarian motive, and
make duty the guide of action.
4. It behoves us to make use of all innocent means—"wise women," if need be—
parables, or direct argument, to bring others to act in accordance with the will of God.
5. In dealing with men we should endeavour to touch the better springs of action in
their nature, and assume that they are prepared to do justly and generously.
Means to bring back the banished.
The woman of Tekoah showed her wisdom in very deftly blending the argument
suggested by Joab with thoughts and pleadings designed to meet the successive replies
of the king. To gain her point, she proceeded from the assumption of his natural
sympathy with a distressed widow up to the overwhelming argument derived from a
consideration of God's method in dealing with his children when they are, by reason
of their sins, banished from his presence, There may seem to be a weakness in the
parallel she implies between the case of her sons and the case of Absalom and
Amnon, inasmuch as the death of Amnon was brought about by a deliberate design,
while the death of the other was a consequence of a sudden strife; but in reality she
was right. The strife of her sons was "in the field," but there may have been
antecedents which led to that mortal conflict; and, so far as concerned the sons of
David, it was to all intents and purposes a family quarrel, brought on by the wrong
done to Absalom in the ruin of his sister, and the wise woman evidently regarded the
whole affair as a "strife in the field." Provocation had been given by Amnon, and the
anger of Absalom, thus aroused, occasioned his death. Amnon would not have died,
but for his attack on the honour of Absalom. Two things in the final argument come
11

12. home to David.
I. MAN'S CONDITION BY REASON OF SIN IS ONE OF BANISHMENT. As truly
as Absalom was now banished from David as a consequence of his transgressions, so
man is separated from God. The information given us of the fallen angels is slight, but
it amounts to this—that they are banished because of sin (2 Peter 2:4; Jud 2 Peter 1:6).
Our first parents were banished from Paradise because of sin. Those who are not
welcomed at last to heaven will have to refer the banishment to sin (Matthew 7:23;
Matthew 25:45, Matthew 25:46; Revelation 21:27). The state of mankind, while sin is
loved and followed, is one of alienation. The carnal mind is not subject to the Law of
God. We are as sheep going astray. Apart from any positive decree, the fact of sin
constitutes moral severance from God. The child wanders, heedless of the Father's
love, and all the moral laws of the universe combine with psychological laws to keep
him, while in that state, outside the blessed sphere of fellowship and rest. It was
instinctive for Absalom to flee from the face of the king. He banished himself by his
deed, and the king could not render it otherwise. It is instinctive for one in sin to rice
from the face of the holy God, and the Eternal, though omnipotent, cannot render it
otherwise. The constitution of nature renders it inevitable. To suppose that it is an
arbitrary arrangement is to imagine an impossibility. No power can make sin
equivalent to holiness, and consequently no power can confer on sin the blessedness
of the Divine favour.
II. GOD NEVERTHELESS REGARDS THE BANISHED AS HIS. Absalom was the
son of David, though an exiled wanderer. David felt for him the mingled sorrow and
displeasure of a just and good parent. The change of character and position does not
destroy natural relationship. Adam was God's wandering child when, with sad heart,
he turned his back on Paradise. The prodigal son is represented as being a son, though
wasting his substance with riotous living. Our Saviour, in teaching us how to pray,
would have us think of God as our Father. The whole tenor of his life on earth was to
cause sinful men to feel that God the Father locks on them as his, even while in
rebellion against his will. Had he disowned us in this respect, there would indeed have
been no hope. It is much to know, in our sins and errors and dreadful guilt, that we are
God's offspring, that he has a proprietary right in us, and thinks of us as only a father
can think of his children (Ezekiel 33:11).
III. GOD MAKES PROVISION FOR BRINGING THE BANISHED BACK TO
HIMSELF. "He doth devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him."
Wonderful words for that age, and from a widow! The great and precious truth is the
comfort of myriads all over the world, and the occasion of wonder and joy in heaven.
Such an incidental statement reveals to us that the pious of Israel in those times
possessed much fuller and clearer knowledge concerning God and his salvation than
they sometimes get credit for, or would be inferred from the outlines of national
history contained in the Bible. The history is designed to trace the great historic line
along which Christ came, and the fact that God was, through the Jewish people,
working out a great purpose to be gradually revealed in Christ. We are not told of all
the detailed teaching of holy priests and prophets. We may fairly regard this wonderful
statement of the widow as an index of truth widely possessed, distinct from the
12

13. provision of such means of blessing as the brazen serpent and the cities of refuge.
There is a twofold sense in which the expression may be understood.
1. God provides means for the redemption of the world. The Mosaic economy was, in
some of its institutions, a shadow of the provision that centres in the cross of Christ.
Our salvation is of God. If he does not find means to cover sin and influence our evil
hearts, there is no hope. We cannot, and are unwilling. He deviseth means (John
3:16). There is an intimation of the wisdom requisite. Sin produces such confusion in
the moral sphere, and runs so against the order of government, and lays so strong a
hold on the human heart, that only infinite wisdom could find out the way by which
we might come back to God. Hence the atoning sacrifice of Christ, the gift of the Holy
Spirit, the appointment of faith as the condition and of preaching as the
instrumentality, are all ascribed to the wisdom and goodness of God. It is by the
Church thus saved that the wisdom of God is revealed to all ages (Romans 3:23-26;
Romans 4:16; Romans 8:14; 1 Corinthians 1:21-30; Ephesians 3:10).
2. God provides means for the restoration of those who backslide from him. By
chastisements, by the voice of prophets and conscience, by the pleading of the Spirit,
by the varied events of providence causing the erring child to feel how evil and bitter a
thing it is to depart from God, he opens a way by which they are brought back again.
David knew this. "He restoreth my soul" (Psalms 23:3). How wonderfully wise and
gentle these means often are is well known to many who once were as sheep going
astray, and had lost the blessedness of fellowship formerly known.
"Return!… O chosen of my love!
Fear not to meet thy beckoning Saviour's view
Long ere I called thee by thy name, I knew
That very treacherously thou wouldst deal;
Now I have seen thy ways, yet I will heal.
Return! Wilt thou yet linger far from me?
My wrath is turned away, I have redeemed thee."
IV. GOD'S WAYS IN DEALING WITH HIS BANISHED ONES ARE A MODEL
FOR US. The wise woman had spoken of the ways of God with his banished ones in
13

14. order to induce David to follow in the same course with respect to Absalom—the
implication being that, when once a good man is reminded of the ways of God, he will
without further urging act in the same manner. The parallel between the relation of
Absalom to David and the relation of a sinner to God may not in every detail be
perfect; but there being a resemblance in the substantial facts—banishment of a son
because of high-handed deeds of wrong—it follows that there should be a
resemblance, in the bearing of the earthly father king to his son, to that of God to his
sinful child. The two features of God's bearing toward his own are:
The reference evidently is not to the legal code, which in several cases recognizes
capital punishment for certain offences, for ends civil and social, but to the general
principle and method of God's dealing with sinful man in his highest relations to
himself. He desireth not the death of the sinner, and therefore he, speaking after the
manner of men, finds out some way of bringing about a restoration to favour
consistent with his own honour and the claims of righteousness. In the New Testament
this example is set forth in strong and varied terms (Matthew 5:43-48; Matthew 6:14,
Matthew 6:15; Ephesians 4:31, Ephesians 4:32). The fact that there is a model in
God's bearing toward us is only half the truth. It is our duty and privilege to act
according to it. It is not enough to be kindly disposed. We are to "devise devices"—
take the initiative—in seeking to restore those who may have done wrong and merited
our displeasure. This is the hard lesson taught by Christ, which even his own people
are so slow to learn. When will Christians be as Christ was and act as Christ did? It is
often easier to sing hymns, hear sermons, and bow the knee in prayer.
GENERAL LESSONS.
1. The proper course for the poor and sorrowful and oppressed is, after the example of
this widow, to have recourse to him who sitteth as King in Zion; for his ear is ever
open to their cry, and there is an open way of access to his throne.
2. In all our approaches to the supreme throne we may, with more confidence than
was displayed by this widow in David, act on the assumption of a mercy and wisdom
that never fail.
3. It is not only a solace to the weary heart, but a sure means of help in our domestic
cares, if we bring them before the notice of our God.
4. We see how often the best and most exalted of men, in their conduct and feelings,
come far short of the character they should manifest, and how they may require even
the teaching which comes from the spirit and deeds of the poor and troubled to raise
them to a higher level of life.
5. It is possible for good men to be kind and generous towards others, and at the same
14

15. time be unaware, till forced to see it, that there are features in their personal conduct
day by day not in accord with the general generosity which they recognize and display.
6. We need to be reminded that the death of those we have cared for, should it come
about while we are not acting kindly toward them (2 Samuel 14:14), is an unalterable
event, a change which renders acts of kindness impossible—as water spilt on the
ground cannot be gathered up again; and consequently we should seize passing
opportunities of blessing them.
7. The sinful state of man is as unnatural as is exile to a king's son, and should ever be
so represented (Isaiah 1:2, Isaiah 1:3).
8. All thanks and praise are due to God, in that he needed not any one to procure our
restoration; all is of his own eternal love and free grace.
9. We should distinguish between the human setting of a truth and the truth itself. To
"devise a means" is a human way of expressing the truth that God, from the
beginning, before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 13:8),
ordained and arranged for our salvation, but that we see the prearrangement coming
into form subsequent to the advent of sin, and think of it as being devised to meet that
event after its occurrence. We say, "the sun rises," but it does not. Our forms of
expression consequent on the appearance of things to us is not the exact utterance of
absolute truth.
10. The force of a Divine example, when brought to bear on men who recognize the
government of God, will often compel conviction when other means fail.
COFFMAN, "ABSALOM FORGIVEN AND BROUGHT BACK TO JERUSALEM
This chapter and through 2 Samuel 19 relate the tragic account of Absalom's rebellion
against David, which ended in Joab's killing the evil rebel as he hung by that gorgeous
head of hair tangled in the branches of a tree. Following his murder of Amnon,
Absalom had fled to Geshur where he remained three years, and King David would
have done very well to let him rot in Geshur, but one of the weaknesses of the great
king was his sentimental attachment to his children, whose sins he would not punish
and whose lives he refused to discipline. Joab detected the longing in David's heart for
the return of Absalom and actually achieved it by the ruse described in this chapter.
JOAB ENLISTED THE HELP OF A WOMAN OF TEKOA
"Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart went out to Absalom.
15

16. And Joab went to Tekoa, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her,
"Pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments; do not anoint yourself with
oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead; and go
to the king, and speak to him." So Joab put the words in her mouth."
Joab's motivation here was very likely personal. "Absalom had the best prospect of
succeeding David to the throne; and Joab thought that this action on his part would be
the best way to secure himself against the punishment which he deserved for the
murder of Abner."[1] Joab's procedure was similar to that of Nathan who brought
before David an alleged court case, but which was actually a parable. A significant
fact which emerges here is that any wronged person in the entire kingdom had the
right to appeal to the king himself for judgment.
"The king's heart went out to Absalom" (2 Samuel 14:1). The KJV reads, "The king's
heart went out toward Absalom," but, "The proposition here does not really mean
either TO or TOWARD, but AGAINST, and it is so rendered in 2 Samuel 14:13."[2]
Furthermore, David's refusal to see Absalom's face for two whole years after his return
to Jerusalem is very difficult to reconcile with the common translations of this verse.
"Joab sent to Tekoa" (2 Samuel 14:2). "Tekoa is the modern Khirbet Taqua about ten
miles south of Jerusalem. Since Joab was reared near Tekoa, he probably knew the
wise woman whom he asked to help him, at least by reputation."[3] Tekoa was
famous as the residence of the great prophet Amos.
"Pretend to be a mourner" (2 Samuel 14:2). Adam Clarke believed that, "The principal
facts in the wise woman's story could have been real and that Joab found a person
whose circumstances conformed to that which he wished to present."[4] Such
opinions appear to be unacceptable because of Joab's instructions to the woman that
she should PRETEND to be a mourner. We believe that her entire story was a clever
fabrication.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Was toward Absalom.—This, like the last verse of the previous
chapter, may be understood in either of two opposite senses: either David’s heart
yearned for Absalom (as the Authorised Version, Vulg., LXX., Syr.), or it was hostile
to him. The Hebrew preposition is used in both senses, though more frequently in the
latter, and unquestionably expresses hostility in the only other place (Daniel 11:28) in
which this form of the phrase occurs. The verse would then be translated, “And Joab
the son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart was against Absalom.” Hence his
stratagem to obtain his recall, which would otherwise have been quite unnecessary.
WHEDON, "ABSALOM’S RETURN AND RESTORATION TO FAVOUR, 2
Samuel 14:1-33.
16

17. 1. Joab… perceived — He was always artful, shrewd, foreseeing, and laying plans for
the future. From what he knew of the king’s heart he had reason to think that Absalom
might be the next king of Israel, and then how important to himself that Absalom feel
indebted to him for his restoration from exile.
Toward Absalom — Not against him, as several interpreters explain the sense, for that
would contradict 2 Samuel 13:39, and render inexplicable the later conduct of the king
towards Absalom. 2 Samuel 18:5; 2 Samuel 18:12; 2 Samuel 18:33. Besides, if Joab
had known that the king was bitterly hostile to Absalom, we cannot see his object in
interceding for him. When Absalom was engaged in the war of rebellion against
David it was by Joab’s hand that he was slain. 2 Samuel 18:14.
CONSTABLE, "Joab's scheme to secure Absalom's pardon 14:1-20
Evidently Joab (David's commander-in-chief and nephew by his half-sister, Zeruiah; 1
Chronicles 2:16) concluded that it would be politically better for David and Israel if
David brought Absalom back to Jerusalem from Geshur (cf. 2 Samuel 14:7; 2 Samuel
14:13-15). Absalom was, of course, now David's heir to the throne by custom, though
Yahweh had designated Solomon to succeed his father. David had a great love for
Absalom even though he was a murderer (2 Samuel 14:1; cf. 2 Samuel 13:37; cf. 2
Samuel 13:39). David had a large capacity to love; he loved God and many other
people greatly. Often people who love greatly find it difficult to confront and
discipline.
The story Joab gave the "actress" from Tekoa (10 miles south of Jerusalem) to tell
duplicated David's own problem with Absalom (cf. the story that God had put in
Nathan's mouth, 2 Samuel 12:1-4). By putting the murderer to death, the woman's
hostile relatives would have deprived her of her means of support (2 Samuel 14:7; cf.
the story of Cain and Abel, Genesis 4:1-8). By putting Absalom to death, David would
have deprived himself of his heir, which Joab evidently perceived Absalom to be.
Since David promised not to execute the woman's son (2 Samuel 14:11), it would be
inconsistent for him to refrain from pardoning Absalom (2 Samuel 14:13). The wise
woman urged David to remember the LORD his God, specifically, His mercy (2
Samuel 14:11).
"David's reference to the 'hair' of the woman's 'son' is both ironic and poignant: The
hair of his own son Absalom was not only an index of his handsome appearance (cf. 2
Samuel 14:25-26) but would also contribute to his undoing (cf. 2 Samuel 18:9-15)."
[Note: Youngblood, pp. 978-79.]
The woman's references to "the people of God" (i.e., Israel, 2 Samuel 14:13; cf. 2
Samuel 14:14-15; 2 Samuel 14:17) point to popular support for Absalom and a
common desire that David would pardon him and allow him to return to Jerusalem.
David had personally experienced God's mercy and had escaped death for his adultery
and murder (2 Samuel 12:13). The woman appealed to David to deal with Absalom as
17

18. God had dealt with him, or the nation would suffer (2 Samuel 14:14). 2 Samuel 14:14
is a key verse in this chapter. The wise "actress" reminded David that God does not
take away life, that is, He does not delight in punishing people. Rather He plans ways
by which guilty people can enjoy reconciliation with Himself. The Cross of Christ is
the greatest historical proof of this truth. Judgment is God's "strange" work (Isaiah
28:21); mercy is what He delights to display. Thus, David should be godly and make a
way to show mercy to Absalom, rather than punishing him with death, according to
Joab.
David knew that Joab wanted him to pardon Absalom. He sensed that the woman's
arguments had come from him (2 Samuel 14:18-19). Joab had written the script for
the skit that she had performed (2 Samuel 14:19-20).
"Ironically, Joab's demise begins at precisely the point where another woman
(Bathsheba) is sent to the king by a thoroughly self-interested [?] statesman (Nathan)
in order to foil the succession of the next in line after Absalom (Adonijah) and so to
secure the crown for Solomon (1 Kings 1:11-31)." [Note: George G. Nicol, "The
Wisdom of Joab and the Wise Woman of Tekoa," Studia Theologica 36 (1982):101.]
There are parallels between this incident and Abigail's appeal to David in 1 Samuel
25:24. [Note: See J. Hoftijzer, "David and the Tekoite Woman," Vetus Testamentum
20:4 (October 1970):419-44.]
HAWKER, "The afflictions of David are not over, and therefore in this chapter we are
presented with the preliminary step leading to a new scourge. By the ministry of Joab
methods are adopted for a reconciliation between David and his son Absalom. The
king permits him to come back, and after some little difficulty a good understanding is
established between them.
2 Samuel 14:1
(1) ¶ Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward
Absalom.
Observe, that it was David's natural tenderness to his son which Joab took advantage
of. If the Reader will take the pains to examine David's history more closely, he will
find that, for the most part, his sins and consequent chastisements, were induced by
consulting the feelings of nature more than the glory of God. His winking at
Absalom's murder was contrary to God's law. Alas! how little do we keep a steady eye
to what the Lord hath said, instead of what we feel.
LANGE, "2 Samuel 14:1. Though David’s soul was comforted for Amnon’s death,
and he had consequently desisted from the pursuit of Absalom, his anger at the latter’s
fratricide had nevertheless not disappeared. This supposition is psychologically
18

19. necessary, since otherwise David would appear as an extremely weak man; and it is
supported by the fact that he would not see Absalom for two years after his return [ 2
Samuel 14:28]. For this reason the latter clause of this verse is to be explained as
indicating not David’s returning inclination to Absalom (as Vulg, Sept, Syr, Arab.
[Eng. A. V.], Joseph, Cleric, and most modern expositors), but his enduring
disinclination towards him. [Erdmann renders: “Joab perceived that the king’s heart
was against Absalom.”—Tr.] It might have been supposed from the discontinuance of
the pursuit that David’s heart had turned to him; but Joab, who had exact knowledge
of court-affairs, observed that the king’s heart was against him. How the word
“perceived” is contrary to this view (Maur, Then.) does not appear, since it contains
the simple statement that David was still hostilely disposed towards Absalom. And “in
the only other place where this construction (without substantive verb) occurs, Daniel
11:28, the Prep. means against” (Keil). [The Prep. (‫)על‬ is often used, however, in the
general sense of “towards,” sometimes with favorable meaning, and the absence of the
subst. verb is not important. The whole connection (somewhat disguised by the
division of chapters) seems to favor the rendering of Eng. A. V. In the last verse of the
preceding chapter David’s heart goes forth towards Absalom (see annotations on that
verse), and here Joab is said to perceive it, so that he devises a scheme to remove the
king’s judicial objections to recalling Absalom. The understanding of the narrative,
however, is not affected by the rendering of the Prep. In either case Joab appears as a
shrewd man. Possibly he was influenced by a genuine feeling of kindness towards
David and Absalom; it is more likely perhaps that he wished to ingratiate himself with
them and the people (Patrick). A. P. Stanley (in Smith’s Bib. Dict.): “Joab combines
with the ruder qualities of the soldier something of a more statesmanlike character,
which brings him more nearly to a level with his youthful uncle, and unquestionably
gives him the second place in the whole history of David’s reign.” Wordsworth: “Joab
is the impersonation of worldly policy, and temporal ambition practising on the
weakness of princes for its self-interests.” Bib. Comm.: “He ever appears wily and
politic and unscrupulous.”—Tr.]
PETT, "Verses 1-21
In Accordance With What He Sees To Be The King’s Desire, Joab Successfully (But
Unwisely) Works To Bring About The Return Of Absalom Through a Wise Woman
(2 Samuel 14:1-21).
As so often throughout David’s reign Joab, who otherwise was totally loyal, felt that
he had in this instance a right to interfere in the affairs of David when he considered
that it might be to his own benefit. He had done it in the case of Abner, when it had
seemed that Abner might usurp his position as commander-in-chief, even though he
had some justification in that case, in that he was exacting blood vengeance on behalf
of his family (2 Samuel 3:27). He will later do it in the case of Amasa, another
commander chosen by David, ostensibly because of his failure to carry out military
orders, but no doubt also because he too had usurped his position as commander-in-
chief (2 Samuel 19:13; 2 Samuel 20:10). He will later even do it by seeking to
promote Adonijah’s claims to the throne as the eldest surviving son, over against
Solomon, possibly because he knew that he was not popular with Solomon (see 1
Kings 2:5-6). Yet he was certainly steadfastly loyal to David in every other way, at
19

20. least while David was still active, and he had shared with him his wilderness years.
What he probably did have in mind was that as Absalom was the eldest son, and
therefore heir presumptive, if he could put Absalom in his debt, then once Absalom
succeeded to the throne after David’s death he would remember what he owed to
Joab.
But his interference here, while possibly with the best of intentions because as
David’s cousin he knew David’s thoughts better than most, would undoubtedly bring
catastrophe on Israel. We should remember that by his actions Absalom had already
rebelled against the throne once. It should therefore have been clear to all that he was
not to be trusted. Yet Joab, by the use of deceit, persuaded David to let him return to
Jerusalem against David’s own better judgment, thus eventually doing David great
harm. The truth was that if Absalom was to return he should really have returned to
enter a City of Refuge, where his case could be decided. Alternatively he should not
have been allowed to return at all. What was not right on any account was to gloss
over his sin in accordance with Joab’s suggestion through the wise woman. (It is
ironic that the one whose only defence in the case of his killing of Abner was that he
was obtaining blood vengeance, should in the case of Absalom take up a different
position). So as a result of Joab’s interference David allowed himself to be jockeyed
into the unacceptable position of allowing Absalom to return under safe conduct,
while being unwilling to have dealings with him because of his sin, both factors which
undoubtedly led to Absalom’s rebellion.
We must recognise that the only reason why Absalom should want to return from his
honoured position in the court of the king of Geshur would be in order to establish his
right to succeed to the throne of Israel, so that once he became aware of how David
felt about him he would have recognised that his succession was unlikely to be
approved by David. We can see why, in his view, this would leave him with only one
alternative, an attempted coup. There was no way that Absalom would have been
willing to live peacefully under Solomon’s rule, or even Adonijah’s. He would
therefore have been best left in Geshur, which he would have been had it not been for
Joab’s intrigues.
One important lesson, therefore, that comes out of this narrative is that we should be
wary as to whose advice we listen to, especially if it conflicts with our own
conscience, and even though it tends to be in line with our inclinations. In this case we
have YHWH on the one hand secretly acting on David’s behalf and protecting him
against the full consequences of his own sin, and on the other we have Joab secretly
acting against David’s best interests, although not fully aware of it, because he
primarily had in mind his own best interests.
Analysis.
a Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was
20

21. against/toward Absalom (2 Samuel 14:1).
b And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her,
“I pray you, feign yourself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray you,
and do not anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has for a long time
mourned for the dead, and go in to the king, and speak on this manner to him.” So
Joab put the words in her mouth (2 Samuel 14:2-3).
c And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the
ground, and did obeisance, and said, “Help, O king” (2 Samuel 14:4).
d And the king said to her, “What ails you?” And she answered, “Of a truth I am
a widow, and my husband is dead. And your handmaid had two sons, and they two
strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the
other, and killed him. And, behold, the whole family is risen against your handmaid,
and they say, ‘Deliver him who smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of
his brother whom he slew, and so destroy the heir also.’ Thus will they quench my
coal which is left, and will leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the
face of the earth” (2 Samuel 14:5-7).
e And the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give charge
concerning you.” And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, the
iniquity be on me, and on my father’s house, and the king and his throne be guiltless.”
And the king said, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not
touch you any more” (2 Samuel 14:8-11).
f Then she said, “I pray you, let the king remember YHWH your God, that the
avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son.” And he said, “As
YHWH lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth” (2 Samuel 14:11).
e Then the woman said, “Let your handmaid, I pray you, speak a word to my
lord the king.” And he said, “Say on.” And the woman said, “Why then have you
devised such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is
as one who is guilty, in that the king does not fetch home again his banished one. For
we must necessarily die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be
gathered up again, neither does God take away life, but devises means, so that he that
is banished continue not as an outcast from him” (2 Samuel 14:12-14).
d “Now, therefore, seeing that I am come to speak this word to my lord the king,
it is because the people have made me afraid, and your handmaid said, ‘I will now
speak to the king, it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. For
the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man that would destroy
me and my son together out of the inheritance of God” (2 Samuel 14:15-16).
c “Then your handmaid said, ‘Let, I pray you, the word of my lord the king be
comfortable, for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad,
and YHWH your God be with you” (2 Samuel 14:17).
b Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Do not hide from me, I pray
you, anything that I shall ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king now
speak.” And the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman
answered and said, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right
hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken, for your servant
Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid. To
21

22. change the face of the matter has your servant Joab done this thing, and my lord is
wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the
earth” (2 Samuel 14:18-20).
a And the king said to Joab, “Behold now, I have done this thing. Go therefore,
bring the young man Absalom back” (2 Samuel 14:21).
Note that in ‘a’ Joab perceives David’s attitude towards Absalom, and in the parallel
David gives Joab permission to bring Absalom back. In ‘b’ Joab calls on the wise
woman of Tekoa to go to David and puts words into her mouth, and in the parallel she
admits that Joab sent her and that what she has spoken have been words put into her
mouth by Joab. In ‘c’ she pleads to David for help, and in the parallel she is grateful
for his ‘helpfulness’. In ‘d’ she tells the story of her son who has slain his brother and
is in danger of blood vengeance, pleading his cause, and in the parallel she speaks of
David as having given his assurance that he will deliver her son out of the hands of
the avenger of blood. In ‘e’ she prays that the king might be guiltless in respect of his
concession, and in the parallel she draws out that he is guilty because in giving the
concession he has demonstrated his inconsistency. Centrally in ‘f’ the woman deals
with the main issue, the setting aside of the right of blood vengeance.
2 Samuel 14:1
‘Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was against (or ’toward’)
Absalom.’
How we translate and interpret this verse will depend on our view of 2 Samuel 13:39.
The ancient Aramaic translation preserved in the Targum, which probably dates back
to before the time of Christ, translates as ‘and Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the
heart of the king was to go out against Absalom’ (the verb being read in from 2
Samuel 13:39. Apart from ‘perceived’ there is no verb in the Hebrew text). It will be
observed that the Targum agrees with the way that we have translated 2 Samuel 13:39
(and incidentally disagrees with the Rabbinic ideas). Thus we have the alternatives of
either seeing this as referring to David’s antagonism towards Absalom in view of what
he had done, possibly including attempts to have him extradited, or as seeing it as
referring to his yearning love for Absalom, a love which is certainly revealed later.
But the latter does not sit well with David’s being unwilling to allow Absalom into his
presence even when he had been allowed to return to Jerusalem. Indeed had he
yearned for him so affectionately he could undoubtedly have arranged a reconciliation
a good time before, instead of waiting for a few years.
So our view is that what the text means is that Joab perceived the anger and
antagonism that was still in David’s heart towards Absalom because he had slain
Amnon, with the result that Absalom was still under the threat of blood vengeance
from David and his family, while aware that in his heart David still had genuine
affection for Absalom. And that he acted on that basis for his own interests, seeing
Absalom as a possible heir to the throne, but never dreaming that Absalom would
openly rebel.
22

23. 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.
BARNES, "Tekoah - In the south of Judah, six miles from Bethlehem, the
modern Tekua. The rough, wild district was well suited for the lawless profession of
the wise woman; it abounds in caves, as does the country near Endor.
CLARKE, "Joab sent to Tekoah - Tekoah, according to St. Jerome, was a little
city in the tribe of Judah, about twelve miles from Jerusalem.
There are several circumstances relative to this woman and her case which deserve
to be noticed: -
1. She was a widow, and therefore her condition of life was the better calculated
to excite compassion.
2. She lived at some distance from Jerusalem, which rendered the case difficult to
be readily inquired into; and consequently there was the less danger of
detection.
3. She was advanced in years, as Josephus says, that her application might have
the more weight.
4. She put on mourning, to heighten the idea of distress.
5. She framed a case similar to that in which David stood, in order to convince
him of the reasonableness of sparing Absalom.
6. She did not make the similitude too plain and visible, lest the king should see
her intention before she had obtained a grant of pardon. Thus her
circumstances, her mournful tale, her widow’s needs, her aged person, and her
impressive manner, all combined to make one united impression on the king’s
heart. We need not wonder at her success. See Bishop Patrick.
GILL, "And Joab sent to Tekoah,.... Which Kimchi says was a city in the tribe of
Asher, and others in the tribe of Benjamin, but it seems rather to be in the tribe, of
Judah, 2Ch_11:5; according Jerom (s), it was twelve miles from Jerusalem, though in
another place (t) he says it was but nine; of this place was Amos, and some think (u)
23

24. the woman after mentioned was his grandmother. It was proper to lay the scene of
the affair to be proposed to the king at some distance, that it might not soon and
easily be inquired into:
and fetched thence a wise woman; one much advanced in years, as Josephus
says (w), whose years had taught her wisdom by experience; a woman of good sense,
and of a good address, apt at expression and reply, and knew how to manage an affair
committed to her; and among other things, perhaps, was famous for acting the part
of a mourner at funerals, for which sometimes women were hired; however, she was
one that was talked of for her wisdom and prudence, and Joab having heard of her,
sent for her as one for his purpose. The Jews (x) say, that Tekoah was the first place
in the land of Israel for oil, and because the inhabitants were much used to oil,
wisdom was found among them:
and said unto her, I pray thee feign thyself to be a mourner; a woman of a
sorrowful spirit, and in great distress, and show it by cries and tears:
and put on now mourning apparel; black clothes, such as mourners usually
wore:
and anoint not thyself with oil; as used to be done in times of feasting and
rejoicing, to make them look smooth, and gay, and cheerful, and of which there
might be much use at Tekoah, if so famous for oil:
but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead; her
countenance pale and foul with weeping, her mourning clothes almost worn out, &c.
HENRY, "1. The person he employed is not named, but she is said to be a woman
of Tekoah, one whom he knew to be fit for such an undertaking: and it was requisite
that the scene should be laid at a distance, that David might not think it strange that
he had not heard of the case before. It is said, She was a wise woman, one that had a
quicker wit and a readier tongue than most of her neighbours, 2Sa_14:2. The truth of
the story would be the less suspected when it came, as was supposed, from the
person's own mouth.
2. The character she put on was that of a disconsolate widow, 2Sa_14:2. Joab knew
such a one would have an easy access to the king, who was always ready to comfort
the mourners, especially the mourning widows, having himself mentioned it among
the titles of God's honour that he is a Judge of the widows, Psa_68:5. God's ear, no
doubt, is more open to the cries of the afflicted, and his heart too, than that of the
most merciful princes on earth can be.
JAMISON 2-21, "And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise
woman — The king was strongly attached to Absalom; and having now got over his
sorrow for the violent death of Amnon, he was desirous of again enjoying the society
of his favorite son, who had now been three long years absent. But a dread of public
opinion and a regard to the public interests made him hesitate about recalling or
pardoning his guilty son; and Joab, whose discerning mind perceived this struggle
between parental affection and royal duty, devised a plan for relieving the scruples,
and, at the same time, gratifying the wishes, of his master. Having procured a
countrywoman of superior intelligence and address, he directed her to seek an
audience of the king, and by soliciting his royal interposition in the settlement of a
24

25. domestic grievance, convinced him that the life of a murderer might in some cases be
saved. Tekoah was about twelve miles south of Jerusalem, and six south of Beth-
lehem; and the design of bringing a woman from such a distance was to prevent
either the petitioner being known, or the truth of her story easily investigated. Her
speech was in the form of a parable - the circumstances - the language - the manner -
well suited to the occasion, represented a case as like David’s as it was policy to make
it, so as not to be prematurely discovered. Having got the king pledged, she avowed it
to be her design to satisfy the royal conscience, that in pardoning Absalom he was
doing nothing more than he would have done in the case of a stranger, where there
could be no imputation of partiality. The device succeeded; David traced its origin to
Joab; and, secretly pleased at obtaining the judgment of that rough, but generally
sound-thinking soldier, he commissioned him to repair to Geshur and bring home
his exiled son.
PULPIT, "Tekoah. This town, famous as the birthplace of the Prophet Amos, lay
upon the borders of the great wilderness southeast of Jerusalem. As it was only
five miles to the south of Bethlehem, Joab's birthplace, he had probably often
heard tales of this woman's intelligence; and, though he contrived the parable
himself, yet it would need tact and adroitness on the woman's part to give the
tale with tragic effect, and answer the king's questions with all the signs of
genuine emotion. If her acting was bad, the king would see through the plot, and
only by great skill would his heart be so moved as to three him to some such
expression of feeling as would serve Joab's purpose.
BENSON, ". Joab sent to Tekoah — A city in the tribe of Judah, about twelve
miles south of Jerusalem. And fetched thence a wise woman — One whom he
knew to be fit for such an undertaking, having good sense and a ready utterance;
and said, I pray thee feign thyself to be a mourner — Who put on no ornaments,
nor used any ointment, but appeared in a sordid, neglected condition. She was to
assume this habit to heighten the idea of her distress, that her circumstances as a
widow, her mournful tale, her dress, and her person, might make one united
impression on the king, and secure his attention. She tells the king that she had
buried her husband; that she had two sons that were the support and comfort of
her widowed state; that they quarrelled, and fought, and one of them unhappily
killed the other; that for her part, she was desirous to protect the man-slayer,
for, as Rebekah argued concerning her two sons, Why should she be deprived of
them both in one day? But though she, who was nearest of kin to the slain, was
willing to let fall the demands of an avenger of blood, yet the other relations
insisted upon it that the surviving brother should be put to death, according to
the law; not out of affection either to justice or to the memory of the slain
brother, but that, by destroying the heir, (which they did not conceal to be the
thing they aimed at,) the inheritance might be theirs. The whole design of her
speech was to frame a case similar to that of David, in order to convince him how
much more reasonable it was to preserve Absalom. But there was great art in not
making the similitude too plain and visible, lest the king should perceive the
intention of the woman’s petition before she obtained a grant of pardon for her
son. — Bishop Patrick.
25

26. COKE, "2 Samuel 14:2. Joab sent to Tekoah, &c.— Tekoah was a city in the
tribe of Judah, and lay about twelve miles south of Jerusalem. Joab's conduct in
this affair was remarkably artful: he chose a widow, because her condition of life
was more proper to move compassion; one who lived at a distance from
Jerusalem, as her case might not be so readily inquired into; and a woman
advanced in years, as Josephus asserts, that her application might have the more
weight. She appeared in a habit of mourning, to heighten the idea of her distress,
and that her circumstances, her mournful tale, her dress, and her person, might
make one united impression on the king, and secure her his attention. The whole
design of her speech was to frame a case similar to that of David, in order to
convince him how much more reasonable it was to preserve Absalom. But there
was great art in not making the similitude too plain and visible, lest the king
should perceive the intention of the woman's petition, before she had obtained a
grant of pardon for her son, and came to make the application to the king.
ELLICOTT, "(2) Tekoah.—A village on a high hill five miles south of
Bethlehem, the home of the prophet Amos. It was also the native place of Ira, one
of David’s thirty heroes (2 Samuel 23:26), and was near enough to Bethlehem,
the home of Joab, for him to have had personal knowledge of this “wise woman.”
There is no ground whatever for suspecting her of being a “witch,” or in any way
disreputable.
The parable that follows was contrived by Joab, yet also required skill and
address on the part of the woman. It is purposely made not too closely parallel to
the case of Absalom, lest it should defeat its own object. In general it needs no
comment.
WHEDON, "2. Tekoah — Twelve miles south of Jerusalem. Its ruins are still to
be seen, and bear the name Tekua. “It lies on an elevated hill, not steep, but
broad on the top, and covered with ruins to the extent of four or five acres. These
consist chiefly in the foundations of houses built of squared stones, some of
which are bevelled.… There are many cisterns excavated in the rocks, and not
far off is a living spring, from which our Arabs brought us fine water.” —
Robinson.
A wise woman — As her skilful appeals to David, and her language, so exquisite
in beauty and pathos, abundantly show. Anoint not thyself — So as to appear
shabbily, and not as one that has just put away mourning. Comp. 2 Samuel
12:20.
HAWKER "Verses 2-11
(2) And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto
her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning
apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time
mourned for the dead: (3) And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto
him. So Joab put the words in her mouth. (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. (5) And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she
26

27. answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. (6) And thy
handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was
none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him. (7) And, behold,
the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that
smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew;
and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left,
and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.
(8) And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge
concerning thee. (9) And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O
king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his
throne be guiltless. (10) And the king said, Whosoever saith ought unto thee,
bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee anymore. (11) Then said she, I pray
thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the
revengers of blood to destroy anymore, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As
the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
The Reader, to enter into the full beauties of this speech, will recollect how much
it was the custom in the eastern world to discourse by story and parable. Nathan
had adapted this plan to David in his own instance. See 2Sa 12. And here the
woman of Tekoah so represents the outlines of Absalom's assassination of his
brother Amnon, that the king for the moment overlooked his own family
distresses on the same occasion, in the supposed history of this woman. But the
Reader to enter into the principal beauty of this story, must be careful not to
overlook the grand point in that law, which made provision that an Israelite
should not have, upon any consideration, the right of his inheritance cut off, nor
his name destroyed from among the people. This inheritance, no doubt, had an
eye to the covenant of redemption; cause the same law that made provision for
this inheritance; made provision also for its recovery by redemption in the next
of kin, in case of loss. See Numbers 27:1-11 compared with Deuteronomy
25:5-10. Then turn to Ruth 4:1-7. Hence you see how sweetly the whole of this
gracious provision, respecting the inheritance of Israel, pointed to the Lord
Jesus, our Goel, our kinsman-Redeemer, who both stops the avenger of blood in
becoming our city of refuge, and redeems our justly forfeited inheritance, as our
relation, by his redemption. David therefore, no doubt, perfectly well
understanding the grand point referred to, concerning the inheritance of which
the woman of Tekoah complained she should be deprived, and the coal be
quenched, whereby a name, or remainder, would not be left to her husband;
entered with more earnestness into the burden of her petition, and with an eye to
Christ sware to the woman by an oath, that her case should be as she wished.
Reader! think then, how eternally secure must be our inheritance, when Jesus
himself, our kinsman-Redeemer, hath purchased it, and how sure the name he
hath preserved to his people. This is to be called by a new name, which the
mouth of the Lord shall name. Isaiah 42:2.
PETT, "2 Samuel 14:2-3
‘And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her,
27

28. “I pray you, feign yourself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I
pray you, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has for a
long time mourned for the dead, and go in to the king, and speak on this manner
to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth.’
In the course of carrying out his plan Joab sent for a wise woman from Tekoa. It
is noteworthy that while David would have sent for a prophet, Joab sent for a
secular wise woman. He was not concerned for YHWH’s will but for his own.
Such women were seen as wise women because they were old and experienced
and had gained a reputation for behaving and speaking wisely (compare 2
Samuel 20:16). The fact that Solomon was noted for ‘wisdom’ might point to the
fact that David encouraged such people, something of which Joab would be well
aware. Her being seen as a ‘wise woman’ was probably by popular opinion
rather than there being at this time a class of ‘wise men and women’. They would
follow later.
He called on the woman to pretend to be a mourner, one who was in long term
mourning for the death of a long dead husband. Thus she was to wear recognised
mourning clothes, and was not to anoint herself with oil, as most Israelite women
would do on approaching the king. The aim was in order to move David’s tender
heart in her favour (Joab knew his man).
Then he gave her the gist of what he wanted her to say. The fact that Joab ‘put
words into her mouth’ is stressed twice (see also 2 Samuel 14:19). The woman
was not necessarily therefore coming forward with the truth. She was putting
forward Joab’s case.
3 Then go to the king and speak these words to him."
And Joab put the words in her mouth.
BARNES, "Come to the king - The king as a judge was accessible to all his
subjects (2Sa_15:2; compare 1Ki_3:16).
GILL, "And come to the king,.... At his palace, in the above condition and
circumstances:
and speak on this manner unto him; something to the following purpose he
dictated to her:
so Joab put the words in her mouth; the substance of what she should say; the
fable she was to deliver as her own case might be framed by Joab, and which she
delivered word for word exactly as he put it, and the application of it; but as he knew
28

29. not what questions the king would ask her, so he could not dictate to her what to
reply, unless he supposed this and the other, and so formed answers; but this he left
to her prudence, and for the sake of which he chose a wise woman to manage this
affair.
LANGE, "2 Samuel 14:2. Tekoah, now Tekua, about five [Eng.] miles south of
Bethlehem, the native place of the prophet Amos. See Robins. II:406 [Am. ed.
I:486 sq.; and see Dr. Hackett’s Art. in Am. ed. of Smith’s Bib. Dict.—Tr.]. As
Bethlehem was Joab’s native place, it is not strange that he was acquainted with
Tekoah. He knew this “wise woman” as one fitted by her readiness of speech,
boldness, shrewdness, and adroitness, to act the part he wanted.[FN17] That it
cost Joab so great pains to gain his end is evidence moreover against the
supposition that David’s heart was already turned to Absalom.
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, O king!"
BARNES, "Spake - Seems to be an accidental error for came, which is found in
many manuscipts and versions.
Help - literally, save (see the margin). It is the same cry as Hosanna, i. e. save now
Psa_118:25.
GILL, "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.
K&D, "2Sa_14:4
The woman did this. All the old translators have given as the rendering of ‫ה‬ ָ ִ‫א‬ ָ‫ה‬
‫ר‬ ֶ‫ּאמ‬ ַ‫ו‬ “the woman came (went) to the king,” as if they had read ‫ּא‬‫ב‬ ָ ַ‫.ו‬ This reading is
actually found in some thirty Codd. of De Rossi, and is therefore regarded by Thenius
and the majority of critics as the original one. But Böttcher has very justly urged, in
opposition to this, that ‫ר‬ ֶ‫ּאמ‬ ַ‫ו‬ cannot possibly be an accidental corruption of ‫,ותבא‬ and
that it is still less likely that such an alteration should have been intentionally made.
29

30. But this remark, which is correct enough in itself, cannot sustain the conjecture
which Böttcher has founded upon it, namely that two whole lines have dropt out of
the Hebrew text, containing the answer which the woman of Tekoah gave to Joab
before she went to the king, since there is not one of the ancient versions which
contains a single word more than the Masoretic text. Consequently we must regard
‫ר‬ ֶ‫ּאמ‬ ַ‫ו‬ as the original reading, and interpret it as a hysteron-proteron, which arose
from the fact that the historian was about to relate at once what the woman said to
the king, but thought it desirable to mention her falling down at the feet of the king
before giving her actual words, “Help, O king,” which he introduces by repeating the
word ‫ר‬ ֶ‫ּאמ‬ ַ‫.ו‬
PULPIT, "When the woman of Tekoah spake. All the versions and several
manuscripts read, as the sense requires, "when the woman of Tekoah came."
There is an interesting article in De Rossi, fixing with much probability the
twelfth century as the date of this error. Though Absalom subsequently (2
Samuel 15:4) complained of the lax administration of justice in the realm, yet
evidently this woman had the right of bringing her suit before the king; and we
may be sure that Joab would take care that nothing unusual was done, lest it
should awaken the king's suspicions. But possibly there was a want of method in
judicial matters, and very much was left in the hands of the tribal officers, such
as we find mentioned in Joshua 24:1.
LANGE, "2 Samuel 14:4. “And the woman came,”[FN18] etc.; for so we must
read instead of the first “said” [Eng. A. V.: “spake”] of the Hebrew text.
Böttcher supposes that here by similar ending (homœoteleuton) two lines have
fallen out, in which is given the answer of the woman before she goes to the king;
but there is no sign in any ancient version of such an omission.
PETT, "2 Samuel 14:4
‘And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the
ground, and did obeisance, and said, “Help, O king.” ’
We should note here that the wise woman appears to have had no difficulty in
approaching the king with her request, which gives the lie to Absalom’s claim
later on that David was not open to being approached by his people (2 Samuel
15:3-4). Such a right of approach to Israel’s leading figure had long been a
principle of Yahwism (and in fact was practised by many other kings who, even
when very cruel, paradoxically liked to be seen as the ‘father’ or ‘shepherd’ of
their people). Consider for example Exodus 18:15-16; Judges 4:4-5; 1 Samuel
7:15-16.
When she approached she made the usual obeisance to the king, falling on her
face before him. This was a requirement for all who approached the king. Joab
had to act similarly (2 Samuel 14:22). (It would be the same for all who
approached David when he was sitting in state, even though it is often not
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31. mentioned. The exception may have been the royal family, although even they
would have had to make some act of deference). Then she made to the king a
plea for his assistance, crying, ‘Give me your help, O king’.
5 The king asked her, "What is troubling you?"
She said, "I am indeed a widow; my husband is dead.
CLARKE, "I am indeed a widow woman - It is very possible that the
principal facts mentioned here were real, and that Joab found out a person whose
circumstances bore a near resemblance to that which he wished to represent.
GILL, "And the king said unto her, what aileth thee?.... 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 1Ti_5:3; 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.
HENRY 5-7, "3. It was a case of compassion which she had to represent to the
king, and a case in which she could have no relief but from the chancery in the royal
breast, the law (and consequently the judgment of all the inferior courts) being
against her. She tells the king that she had buried her husband (2Sa_14:5), - that she
had two sons that were the support and comfort of her widowed state, - that these
two (as young men are apt to do) fell out and fought, and one of them unhappily
killed the other (2Sa_14:6), - that, for her part, she was desirous to protect the
manslayer (for, as Rebekah argued concerning her two sons, Why should she be
deprived of them both in one day? Gen_27:45), but though she, who was nearest of
kin to the slain, was willing to let fall the demands of an avenger of blood, yet the
other relations insisted upon it that the surviving brother should be put to death
according to law, not out of any affection either to justice or to the memory of the
slain brother, but that, by destroying the heir (which they had the impudence to own
was the thing they aimed at), the inheritance might be theirs: and thus they would
cut off, (1.) Her comfort: “They shall quench my coal, deprive me of the only support
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32. of my old age, and put a period to all my joy in this world, which is reduced to this
one coal.” (2.) Her husband's memory: “His family will be quite extinct, and they will
leave him neither name nor remainder,” 2Sa_14:7.
K&D 5-7, "2Sa_14:5-7
When the king asked her, “What aileth thee?” the woman described the pretended
calamity which had befallen her, saying that she was a widow, and her two sons had
quarrelled in the field; and as no one interposed, one of them had killed the other.
The whole family had then risen up and demanded that the survivor should be given
up, that they might carry out the avenging of blood upon him. Thus they sought to
destroy the heir also, and extinguish the only spark that remained to her, so as to
leave her husband neither name nor posterity upon the earth. The suffix attached to
‫ּו‬ⅴַ ַ‫,ו‬ with the object following (“he smote him, the other,” 2Sa_14:6), may be
explained from the diffuseness of the style of ordinary conversation (see at 1Sa_
21:14). There is no reason whatever for changing the reading into ‫וּ‬ⅴַ‫,י‬ as the suffix ow,
though unusual with verbs ‫,הל‬ is not without parallel; not to mention the fact that the
plural ‫וּ‬ⅴָ‫י‬ is quite unsuitable. There is also quite as little reason for changing ‫ה‬ ָ‫יד‬ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ַ‫נ‬ְ‫ו‬
into ‫ידוּ‬ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ַ‫י‬ְ‫,ו‬ in accordance with the Syriac and Arabic, as Michaelis and Thenius
propose, on the ground that “the woman would have described her relatives as
diabolically malicious men, if she had put into their mouths such words as these, 'We
will destroy the heir also.' “ It was the woman's intention to describe the conduct of
the relations and their pursuit of blood-revenge in the harshest terms possible, in
order that she might obtain help from the king. She begins to speak in her own name
at the word ‫וּ‬ ִ‫כ‬ְ‫ו‬ (“and so they shall quench and”), where she resorts to a figure, for
the purpose of appealing to the heart of the king to defend her from the threatened
destruction of her family, saying, “And so they shall quench the burning coal which is
left.” ‫ת‬ ֶ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ח‬ַ is used figuratively, like τᆵ ζώπυρον, the burning coal with which one
kindles a fresh fire, to denote the last remnant. ‫שׁוּם‬ ‫י‬ ִ ְ‫ל‬ ִ‫ב‬ ְ‫:ל‬ “so as not to set,” i.e., to
preserve or leave name and remnant (i.e., posterity) to my husband.
This account differed, no doubt, from the case of Absalom, inasmuch as in his case
no murder had taken place in the heat of a quarrel, and no avenger of blood
demanded his death; so that the only resemblance was in the fact that there existed
an intention to punish a murderer. But it was necessary to disguise the affair in this
manner, in order that David might not detect her purpose, but might pronounce a
decision out of pity for the poor widow which could be applied to his own conduct
towards Absalom.
LANGE, "2 Samuel 14:5. Here begins the lively, flowing narration of the feigned
misfortune. Though Joab had “put the words into the woman’s mouth,” yet
considerable readiness was required in order to bring them out so skilfully in her
assumed character, and to make such an impression on the king as to lead him to
the desired definite resolution. [Read: I am a widow. And my husband died, and
I had two sons, etc.—Tr.]
PETT, "2 Samuel 14:5-7
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