2 Samuel14chapter 14

2 Samuel 14:1

“Was towards - He desired to see him, but was ashamed to shew kindness to one whom God's law and his own conscience obliged him to punish; he wanted therefore a fair pretense, which therefore Joab gave him.”

2 Samuel 14:1

“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.”

2 Samuel 14:2

“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) the woman after mentioned was his grandmother.”

2 Samuel 14:2

“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.”

2 Samuel 14:2

“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.”

2 Samuel 14:4

“And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king,.... Or after she had spoken to him, being introduced by Joab, as is probable; when she had saluted him with God save the king, or May the king live, or some such like expressions: she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance; to him as her king, in reverence of his majesty: and said, help, O king; signifying that she was in great distress, and came to him for assistance and deliverance.”

2 Samuel 14:4

“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.”

2 Samuel 14:5

“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.”

2 Samuel 14:7

“The whole family ... - This indicates that all the king’s sons, and the whole court, were against Absalom, and that the knowledge of this was what hindered David from yielding to his affection and recalling him.”

2 Samuel 14:7

“To quench the light of Israel (2Sa 21:17) is to destroy the king's life; to ordain a lamp for any one (Ps 132:17) is to grant him posterity; to quench a coal signifies here the extinction of this woman's only remaining hope that the name and family of her husband would be preserved.”

2 Samuel 14:8

“This was encouraging, that he did not dismiss her petition with " Currat lex--Let the law take its course; blood calls for blood, and let it have what it calls for:" but he will take time to enquire whether the allegations of her petition be true.”

2 Samuel 14:9

“The iniquity be on me ... - Compare the principle in Gen 9:5-6; Num 35:30-34. The woman therefore says, if there is any such guilt in sparing my son, may it rest upon me and my house, not on David and his throne. Compare 2Sa 3:28. The cunning speech of the woman extracted a more direct promise of protection from the king 2Sa 14:1.”

2 Samuel 14:9

“Yet her saying this would not acquit the king if he should pass sentence without taking due cognizance of the case. (3.) Being thus pressed, he made a further promise that she should not be injured nor insulted by her adversaries, but he would protect her from all molestation,”

2 Samuel 14:11

“Let the king remember the Lord thy God - Consider that when God is earnestly requested to show mercy, he does it in the promptest manner; he does not wait till the case is hopeless: the danger to which my son is exposed is imminent; if the king do not decide the business instantly, it may be too late. And he said, As the Lord liveth - Thus he binds himself by a most solemn promise and oath; and this is what the woman wanted to extort.”

2 Samuel 14:12

“Then the woman said, let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my Lord the king,.... Having gained her point, and gotten a decree from him confirmed by an oath, that her son though he had killed his brother should not die; she proceeds to accommodate the parable, and apply it to the case of Absalom, and improve it in his favour: and he said, say on; gave her leave to say what she had further to observe to him; see Luk 7:40.”

2 Samuel 14:12

“Having at last obtained what she wanted, the king’s oath that her son should not die, she proceeds to the case of Absalom. The meaning of 2Sa 14:13 may be paraphrased thus: “If you have done right as regards my son, how is it that you harbor such a purpose of vengeance against Absalom as to keep him, one of God’s people, an outcast in a pagan country, far from the worship of the God of Israel?”

2 Samuel 14:13-17

“Absalom has reason to complain that he is treated by his own father more sternly and severely than the meanest subject in the realm; and the whole nation will have cause for saying that the king shows more attention to the petition of a humble woman than to the wishes and desires of a whole kingdom.”

2 Samuel 14:13

“It is true, Absalom's case was widely different from that which she had supposed. But David was too well affected to him, to remark that difference, and was more desirous than she could be, to apply that favourable judgment to his own son, which he had given concerning hers.”

2 Samuel 14:14

For God's purpose, according to which he did not make the human being to perish but to live forever, abides unchanging. When his kindness sees shining in us the slightest glimmer of good will, which he himself has in fact sparked from the hard flint of our heart, he fosters it, stirs it up and strengthens it with his inspiration, "desiring all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." For, he says, "it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

2 Samuel 14:14

“For we must needs die - Whatever is done must be done quickly; all must die; God has not exempted any person from this common lot. Though Amnon be dead, yet the death of Absalom cannot bring him to life, nor repair this loss. Besides, for his crime, he justly deserved to die; and thou, in this case didst not administer justice. Horrible as this fratricide is, it is a pardonable case: the crime of Amnon was the most flagitious; and the offense to Absalom, the ruin of his beloved sister, indescribably great.”

2 Samuel 14:14

“THE woman of Tekoah, in arguing with David for the recall of his son Absalom, argued with great shrewdness. After craftily entrapping the king by her parable, she then pleaded with him in persuasive terms—the cleverness of which we must admire—though the end aimed at was not consistent with the impartial justice which every magistrate ought to exercise. In effect she pleaded thus—"It is true that Absalom slew his brother Amnon. But nevertheless spare his life, and permit him to return from exile. What is done cannot be undone.”

2 Samuel 14:14

“Respect - So far as to exempt him from this common law of dying. Not expelled - He hath given laws to this purpose, that the man-slayer who is banished should not always continue in banishment, but upon the High-priest's death return to his own city.”

2 Samuel 14:14

“Here are two great instances of the mercy of God to sinners, properly urged as reasons for showing mercy: --First, The patience he exercises towards them. His law is broken, yet he does not immediately take away the life of those that break it, does not strike sinners dead, as justly he might, in the act of sin, but bears with them, and waits to be gracious.”

2 Samuel 14:15

“The people have made me afraid - She pretends still that her suit was a real one, and that she was in fear of the people (“the whole family,” 2Sa 14:7) setting upon her and her son.”

2 Samuel 14:15

“The people - The truth is, I was even forced to this bold address to thee by the disposition of thy people, who are discontented at Absalom's perpetual banishment, lest, if Absalom by his father-in-law's assistance invade the land, the people who have a great kindness for him, and think he is very hard used, should take up arms.”

2 Samuel 14:16

“Inheritance - That is, out of that land which God gave to his people to be their inheritance, and in which alone God hath settled the place of his presence and worship: whereby she intimates the danger of Absalom's living in a state of separation from God, and his house, amongst idolaters.”

2 Samuel 14:17

“Angel - In wisdom, and justice, and goodness. Therefore - Because thou art so wise and gracious to those who in strict justice deserve punishment, God will own and stand by thee in this thy act of grace: or God will prosper thee in thy enterprizes.”

2 Samuel 14:20

“According to the wisdom of an angel of God - This is quite in the style of Asiatic flattery. A European is often addressed, “Saheb can do every thing; we can do nothing; none can prevent the execution of Saheb’s commands; Saheb is God.” See Ward.”