2 Samuel 14:15
in 2 Samuel 14Now therefore, I have come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the request of his maidservant.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore seeing that I am come to speak this word unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.
KJV
Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.
⋯
This verse in 2 Samuel 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
the people have made me afraid
on 2 Samuel 14:15-17
She closes her case with the fear that drove her, the people have made me afraid, and folds in a flattering line that the king discerns good and bad like an angel of God. The same comparison recurs at verse 20 in Joab's own mouth once the trick is exposed, so the flattery becomes a line the reader is let in on before David is. Wesley reads her closing therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee as the reward she promises a king who forgives what strict justice would condemn.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king,....
"And, in order to this, the Lord thy God will be with thee, to assist thee in this and every judgment thou givest." Great expectations are great engagements, especially to persons of honour, to do their utmost not to disappoint those that depend upon them. The hand of Joab is suspected by the king, and acknowledged by the woman, to be in all this,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
We are [all] going to die. And that punishment is sufficent. 4 For Avsholom.
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
25 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֠עַתָּה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּ֜אתִי | bati | I have come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לְדַבֵּ֨ר | ledaber | to speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֲדֹנִי֙ | ʾadoni | lord my | H113 → | 333 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדָּבָ֣ר | hadavar | the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יֵֽרְאֻ֖נִי | yereuni | they have made afraid me | H3372 → | 315 times |
| הָעָ֑ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וַתֹּ֤אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שִׁפְחָֽתְךָ֙ | shifchatekha | maidservant your | H8198 → | 63 times |
| אֲדַבְּרָה־ | ʾadaberah- | let me speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| נָּ֣א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אוּלַ֛י | ʾulai | perhaps | H194 → | |
| יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה | yaaseh | he will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּבַ֥ר | devar | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֲמָתֽוֹ׃ | ʾamato | maidservant his | H519 → | 56 times |
וְ֠עַתָּהand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
אֲשֶׁר־when
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּ֜אתִיI have come
batiH935 →2568 times
לְדַבֵּ֨רto speak
ledaberH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמֶּ֤לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֲדֹנִי֙lord my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדָּבָ֣רthe word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
יֵֽרְאֻ֖נִיthey have made afraid me
yereuniH3372 →315 times
הָעָ֑םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וַתֹּ֤אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
שִׁפְחָֽתְךָ֙maidservant your
shifchatekhaH8198 →63 times
אֲדַבְּרָה־let me speak
ʾadaberah-H1696 →1141 times
נָּ֣אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אוּלַ֛יperhaps
ʾulaiH194 →
יַעֲשֶׂ֥הhe will do
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּבַ֥ר[the] word of
devarH1697 →1440 times
אֲמָתֽוֹ׃maidservant his
ʾamatoH519 →56 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.