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2 Samuel 14:13

in 2 Samuel 14

The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one that is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one.

KJV

And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.

This verse in 2 Samuel 14

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

This site's exposition

speak a word to my lord the king

on 2 Samuel 14:12-14

The woman asks leave to “speak a word to my lord the king”, then turns her story on him. If he will spare a son who killed his brother, he convicts himself, “since he has not brought back his own banished son”.

This site's exposition

against the people of God

Matthew Henry explains the phrase by Absalom's standing as a likely heir, so his exile wronged the whole people who looked to David's house. John Wesley observes that Absalom's case differed widely from the widow's, since Absalom had planned his killing. David was too fond to notice.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

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.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

"What is done against him is done against the people of God, who have their eye upon him as heir of the crown, at least have their eye upon the house of David in general, with which the covenant is made, and which therefore they cannot tamely see the diminution and decay of by the fall of so many of its branches in the flower of their age.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God?....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

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.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing - The woman, having now got the king’s promise confirmed by all oath, that her son should not suffer for the murder of his brother, comes immediately to her conclusion: Is not the king to blame? Does he now act a consistent part? He is willing to pardon the meanest of his subjects the murder of a brother at the instance of a poor widow, and he is not willing to pardon his son Absalom, whose restoration to favor is the desire of the whole nation.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Why did you think this. You suspected that a Jew could come to kill another [Jew] without witnesses and a warning.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 14:13:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
We are [all] going to die. And that punishment is sufficent. 4 For Avsholom.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 14:14:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙and she said

    vatomerH559 →5305 times

  • הָֽאִשָּׁ֔הthe woman

    haishahH802 →781 times

  • וְלָ֧מָּהand <to> why?

    velamahH4100 →752 times

  • חָשַׁ֛בְתָּהhave you planned

    chashavtahH2803 →124 times

  • כָּזֹ֖אתlike this

    kazotH2063 →603 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • עַ֣ם[the] people of

    ʾamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֑יםGod

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • וּמִדַּבֵּ֨רand <from> because has spoken

    umiddaberH1696 →1141 times

  • הַמֶּ֜לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • הַדָּבָ֤רthe word

    hadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • הַזֶּה֙<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • כְּאָשֵׁ֔םlike a guilty [person]

    keashemH818 →

  • לְבִלְתִּ֛יto not

    leviltiH1115 →112 times

  • הָשִׁ֥יבto bring back

    hashivH7725 →1056 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אֶֽת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • נִדְּחֽוֹ׃banished [son] his

    nidechoH5080 →55 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 7:8

    Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 78:70–71

      He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

    • 2 Samuel 6:21

      But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate…

    • 1 Samuel 16:11–12

      And Samuel asked him, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is tending the sheep.” “Send for him,” Samuel replied. “For we will not sit…

    • 1 Chronicles 17:7

      Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My…

    • 2 Samuel 12:7

      Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

  • Through

    Judges 20:2

    The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords.

    it leads to

    • Judges 8:10

      Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had…

  • Through

    2 Samuel 12:7

    Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 16:13

      So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and…

    • Matthew 14:14

      When He stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, Means for Restoring the Banished, Sermon No. 950; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.