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2 Samuel 14:17

in 2 Samuel 14

And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angel of God. May the LORD your God be with you.’”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Then thy handmaid said, Let, I pray thee, 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 Jehovah thy God be with thee.

KJV

Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee.

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

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.

This site's exposition

just like the angel of God

The woman credits the king with the power to discern good and evil like the angel of God. Albert Barnes takes this as praise that the king's word would be as right as heaven's. Such praise left David little room to refuse her.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

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.
Then thine handmaid said, the word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

"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 & 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.
As an angel of God - Rather, as “the” Angel of God; and therefore whatever David decided would be right.

The words behind it

21 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

    vatomerH5595305 times

  • שִׁפְחָ֣תְךָ֔maidservant your

    shifchatekhaH819863 times

  • יִֽהְיֶה־may it become

    yihyeh-H19613559 times

  • נָּ֛אplease

    na'H4994404 times

  • דְּבַר־[the] word of

    devar-H16971440 times

  • אֲדֹנִ֥יlord my

    ʾadoniH113333 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • לִמְנוּחָ֑ה<into> rest

    limnuchahH4496

  • כִּ֣י׀for

    kiH35884482 times

  • כְּמַלְאַ֣ךְlike [the] angel of

    kemalakhH4397213 times

  • הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים<the> God

    haelohimH4302601 times

  • כֵּ֣ן[is] so

    kenH3651771 times

  • אֲדֹנִ֤יlord my

    ʾadoniH113333 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • לִשְׁמֹ֙עַ֙to hear

    lishmoa'H80851159 times

  • הַטּ֣וֹב<the> good

    hatovH2896538 times

  • וְהָרָ֔עand <the> bad

    vehara'H7451662 times

  • וַֽיהוָ֥הand Yahweh

    vayahwehH30686520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָGod your

    ʾeloheikhaH4302601 times

  • יְהִ֥יmay he be

    yehiH19613559 times

  • עִמָּֽךְ׃ פwith you

    ʾimakhH59731050 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

    1 Kings 3:9

    Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

    it leads to

    • James 1:5

      Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

    • Hebrews 5:14

      But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

    • Proverbs 16:16

      How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.

    • John 5:30

      I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

    • Proverbs 2:3–9

      if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

  • Through

    Hebrews 5:14

    But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 2:14–15

      The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:21

      but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

    • Philippians 1:9–10

      And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,

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 Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.