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2 Samuel 14:33

in 2 Samuel 14

So Joab went and told the king, and David summoned Absalom, who came to him and bowed facedown before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.

KJV

So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.

This verse in 2 Samuel 14

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Did the bowels of a father prevail to reconcile him to an impenitent son, and shall penitent sinners question the compassion of him who is the Father of mercy? If Ephraim bemoan himself, God soon bemoans him, with all the kind expressions of a fatherly tenderness: He is a dear son, a pleasant child, Jer. xxxi.

This site's exposition

Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire

on 2 Samuel 14:31-33

Absalom protests his own innocence to Joab, it had been good for me to have been there still, and demands the king's face on his own terms, let him kill me if I am guilty. Joab carries the demand, and David answers with a kiss, the physical seal of reconciliation after three years of exile and two more years of silence. The chapter closes on the gesture rather than on any change in Absalom's heart, and the sword promised at 12:10 will fall from that same unaddressed heart within a few chapters.

This site's exposition

the king kissed Absalom

Joab told the king, and David called for Absalom, who bowed low before him. Then the king kissed him, as Joseph kissed his brothers in Genesis 45:15. Matthew Henry notes that Absalom showed no sorrow for his sin.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

5 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. 6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

So Joab came to the king, and told him,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Kissed - This was the pledge of reconciliation. (See the marginal references and Gen 45:15.)

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וַיָּבֹ֨אand he went

    vaiyavo'H9352568 times

  • יוֹאָ֣בJoab

    yoavH3097144 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • הַמֶּלֶךְ֮the king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • וַיַּגֶּד־and he told

    vaiyaged-H5046370 times

  • לוֹ֒to <the> him

    lo

  • וַיִּקְרָ֤אand he summoned

    vaiyikra'H7121733 times

  • אֶל־<to>

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙Absalom

    ʾavshalomH53110 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֣אand he came

    vaiyavo'H9352568 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • וַיִּשְׁתַּ֨חוּand he bowed down

    vaiyishtachuH7812172 times

  • ל֧וֹto <the> him

    lo

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • אַפָּ֛יוface his

    ʾapavH639276 times

  • אַ֖רְצָה[the] ground towards

    ʾartzahH7762504 times

  • לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before

    lifneiH64402123 times

  • הַמֶּ֑לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • וַיִּשַּׁ֥קand he kissed

    vaiyishakH540135 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • לְאַבְשָׁלֽוֹם׃ פ<to> Absalom

    leavshalomH53110 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

    Luke 15:20

    So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 103:10–13

      He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities.

    • Psalms 86:5

      For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.

    • Psalms 86:15

      But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.

    • Ephesians 2:13

      But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

    • Deuteronomy 30:2–4

      and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today,

  • Through

    Genesis 33:4

    Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.

    it leads to

    • Luke 15:20

      So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Genesis 45:14–15

      Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced.

    • Acts 20:37

      They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

About 2 Samuel

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