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2 Samuel 14:22

in 2 Samuel 14

Joab fell facedown in homage and blessed the king. “Today,” said Joab, “your servant knows that he has found favor with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted his request.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king; and Joab said, To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found favor in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath performed the request of his servant.

KJV

And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant.

This verse in 2 Samuel 14

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Fulfilled - But it seems David had no power to dispense with God's laws, nor to spare any whom God appointed him to destroy: for the laws of God bound the kings and rulers, as well as the people of Israel. How justly did God make this man, whom he had so sinfully spared, a scourge to him?

This site's exposition

bring the young man Absalom again

on 2 Samuel 14:21-22

David grants the request to Joab directly, not to the woman, which shows he read the scheme correctly from the start and answers the man behind it. Joab's gratitude at verse 22 is genuine and self-interested at once, for the general's own past bloodguilt sits safer once the king has shown he can forgive a killing son. Henry reads the scene as a small figure of a greater mercy, for the king does not restore Absalom on his own first motion but is moved to say Go, bring them again, much as a mediator's plea rather than a sinner's own standing brings the banished home.

This site's exposition

Joab fell facedown in homage

John Wesley holds that David had no power to set aside God's law on blood, and he sees Absalom's later revolt as God's scourge on that mercy. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown find selfishness in Joab's thanks. Matthew Henry notes that Solomon will call Joab to account at 1 Kings 2.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Joab took it as a kindness to himself, and (some think) as an indication that he would never call him to an account for the murder he had been guilty of. But, if he meant so, he was mistaken, as we shall find, 1 Kings ii.
And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

After an account of Absalom, his person, and family, we are told how at length he was introduced by Joab into the king's presence, and the king was thoroughly reconciled to him,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight--Joab betrayed not a little selfishness amid his professions of joy at this act of grace to Absalom, and flattered himself that he now brought both father and son under lasting obligations.

The words behind it

26 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.

  • וַיִּפֹּל֩and he fell

    vaiyipolH5307435 times

  • יוֹאָ֨בJoab

    yoavH3097144 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • פָּנָ֥יוface his

    panavH64402123 times

  • אַ֛רְצָה[the] ground towards

    ʾartzahH7762504 times

  • וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּand he bowed down

    vaiyishtachuH7812172 times

  • וַיְבָ֣רֶךְand he blessed

    vayvarekhH1288330 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • הַמֶּ֑לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • יוֹאָ֡בJoab

    yoavH3097144 times

  • הַיּוֹם֩this day

    haiyomH31172304 times

  • יָדַ֨עhe knows

    yada'H3045945 times

  • עַבְדְּךָ֜servant your

    ʾavdekhaH5650799 times

  • כִּי־that

    ki-H35884482 times

  • מָצָ֨אתִיI have found

    matzatiH4672455 times

  • חֵ֤ןfavor

    chenH258069 times

  • בְּעֵינֶ֙יךָ֙in view your

    beeineikhaH5869887 times

  • אֲדֹנִ֣יO lord my

    ʾadoniH113333 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־that

    ʾasher-H8345497 times

  • עָשָׂ֥הhe has done

    ʾasahH62132628 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • דְּבַ֥ר[the] word of

    devarH16971440 times

  • עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃servant your

    avdekhH5650799 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

    Proverbs 31:28

    Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband praises her as well:

    it leads to

    • 2 Timothy 3:15–17

      From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

    • 2 Timothy 1:5

      I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.

    • 1 Kings 2:19

      So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. Then the king had a throne…

  • Through

    Ruth 2:2

    And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” “Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 23:22

      When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the…

    • Leviticus 19:9

      When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

  • Through

    Nehemiah 11:2

    And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

    it leads to

    • Judges 5:9

      My heart is with the princes of Israel, with the volunteers among the people. Bless the LORD!

  • Through

    Job 31:20

    if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 24:13

      be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Job 29:11

    For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,

    it leads to

    • Job 31:20

      if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

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 Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.