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2 Samuel 14
International Standard Version

Joab’s Plan Regarding Absalom

14 Meanwhile, Zeruiah’s son Joab knew that the king’s attention was focused on Absalom,[a] 2 so he[b] sent messengers[c] to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup.[d] Act like a woman who’s been in mourning for the dead for many days. 3 Then go to the king and speak to him like this…” Then Joab told her what to say.

4 When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, prostrating herself to address him, “Help, your majesty!”

5 The king asked her, “What’s your problem?”[e]

“I’ve been a widowed woman[f] ever since my husband died,” she answered. 6 “Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. 7 Now please pay attention closely! My[g] whole family is attacking your humble servant! They’re saying, ‘Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we’ll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we’ll kill the heir also!’ They’re going to extinguish the only light[h] left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!”

8 Then the king replied to the woman, “Go home and I’ll issue a special order just for you.”

9 But the woman from Tekoa told the king, “Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors’ household, and not on my king or his throne!”

10 The king replied, “Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won’t be bothering[i] you anymore!”

11 Then she said, “Your majesty, please remember the Lord your God, so that blood avengers don’t do any more damage! Otherwise, they’ll destroy my son!”

So he promised, “As the Lord lives, not even a single hair from your son’s head[j] will fall to the ground!”

12 At this, the woman responded, “Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?”

“Say it…”[k] he replied.

13 “Why, then,” the woman asked, “are you planning to act just like this against God’s people? Based on what your majesty has said, you’re acting like one who is guilty himself, because you’re not bringing back the one whom you’ve banished! 14 After all, even though we all die,[l] and we’re[m] all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn’t take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged.[n]

15 “Now as to why I’ve come to speak with your majesty the king, it’s because the people have made me afraid, so your humble servant told herself,[o] ‘I’ll go speak to the king, so perhaps the king will do what his humble servant has requested. 16 Perhaps the king will listen and deliver his humble servant from the oppression[p] of the man who intends to eliminate both me and my son from what God has apportioned to us!’[q]

17 “So your humble servant is saying, ‘Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the Lord your God remain present with you.’”

18 In reply, the king asked the woman, “Please don’t conceal anything about which I’m going to be asking you now.”

So the woman replied, “Please, your majesty, let the king speak.”

19 Then the king asked, “Is Joab behind all of this with you?”[r]

“As your soul lives, your majesty, the king,” the woman answered, “no one can divert anything left or right from what your majesty the king has spoken! As a matter of fact, it was your servant Joab! He was there, giving me precise orders about everything that your humble servant was to say. Your servant Joab did this, 20 intending to change the outcome of this matter. Nevertheless, your majesty is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to be aware of everything that’s going on throughout the earth.”[s]

David Authorizes Absalom’s Return

21 Then the king addressed Joab, “Look! I’ll do this thing that you’ve requested.[t] Go bring back the young man Absalom.”

22 At this, Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrating himself to bless the king, and then[u] said, “Today your servant realizes that he’s found favor with you, your majesty, in that the king has acted on the request of his servant.” 23 Then Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

24 Nevertheless, the king said, “Let him return to his own home and not show his face to me.” So Absalom returned to his own home and did not show his face to the king.

David’s Son Absalom

25 Now throughout all of Israel no one was as handsome as Absalom or so highly praised, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there wasn’t a single thing wrong about him. 26 Whenever he cut his hair —he cut it at the end of every year, because it grew thick on his head,[v] which is why he cut it—his hair weighed in at 200 shekels[w] measured by the royal standard.[x] 27 Absalom fathered three sons and one daughter, whom he named Tamar. She was a beautiful woman, both in form and appearance.

28 Meanwhile, Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years, but never saw the king’s face. 29 After this, Absalom sent for Joab, intending to send him to the king, but Joab[y] would not come. Absalom[z] sent for him a second time, but he still[aa] would not come. 30 So Absalom[ab] told his servants, “Observe that Joab’s grain field lies next to mine. He has barley planted there. Go set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

31 At this, Joab got up, went to Absalom’s home, and demanded of him, “Why did your servants set fire to my grain field?”

32 In answer to Joab, Absalom replied, “Look, I sent for you, telling you ‘Come here so I can send you to the king to ask him “What’s the point in moving here from Geshur? I would have been better off to have remained there!”’ So let me see the king’s face, and if I’m guilty of anything, let him execute me!”

33 So when Joab approached the king and told him what Absalom had said,[ac] he summoned Absalom, who then came to the king and fell to the ground on his face in front of him.[ad] Then the king kissed Absalom.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 14:1 Lit. king’s heart was toward
  2. 2 Samuel 14:2 Lit. Joab
  3. 2 Samuel 14:2 The Heb. lacks messengers
  4. 2 Samuel 14:2 Lit. using anointing oil
  5. 2 Samuel 14:5 The Heb. lacks problem
  6. 2 Samuel 14:5 I.e. a widow of meager resources, low social status, and limited circumstances, therefore eligible to receive special assistance from Israel’s society.
  7. 2 Samuel 14:7 Lit. The
  8. 2 Samuel 14:7 Lit. the coal that is; i.e. the only remaining heir
  9. 2 Samuel 14:10 Lit. touching
  10. 2 Samuel 14:11 The Heb. lacks head
  11. 2 Samuel 14:12 The Heb. lacks it
  12. 2 Samuel 14:14 Lit. though to death we all die
  13. 2 Samuel 14:14 The Heb. lacks we’re
  14. 2 Samuel 14:14 MT verb for cast away permanently is an intensive form of the verb estranged
  15. 2 Samuel 14:15 The Heb. lacks to herself
  16. 2 Samuel 14:16 Lit. palm
  17. 2 Samuel 14:16 The Heb. lacks to us
  18. 2 Samuel 14:19 Lit. Is the hand of Joab with you in
  19. 2 Samuel 14:20 Or land; or going on in the land
  20. 2 Samuel 14:21 The Heb. lacks that you’ve requested
  21. 2 Samuel 14:22 Lit. Joab
  22. 2 Samuel 14:26 Lit. grew heavy on him
  23. 2 Samuel 14:26 I.e. about five pounds at 0.4 shekels per ounce
  24. 2 Samuel 14:26 Lit. the king’s weight
  25. 2 Samuel 14:29 Lit. he
  26. 2 Samuel 14:29 Lit. he
  27. 2 Samuel 14:29 The Heb. lacks still
  28. 2 Samuel 14:30 Lit. he
  29. 2 Samuel 14:33 The Heb. lacks what Absalom had said
  30. 2 Samuel 14:33 Lit. of the king
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2 Samuel 14
New International Version

Absalom Returns to Jerusalem

14 Joab(A) son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa(B) and had a wise woman(C) brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions.(D) Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead. 3 Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab(E) put the words in her mouth.

4 When the woman from Tekoa went[a] to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, Your Majesty!”

5 The king asked her, “What is troubling you?”

She said, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death(F) for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir(G) as well.’ They would put out the only burning coal I have left,(H) leaving my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth.”

8 The king said to the woman, “Go home,(I) and I will issue an order in your behalf.”

9 But the woman from Tekoa said to him, “Let my lord the king pardon(J) me and my family,(K) and let the king and his throne be without guilt.(L)”

10 The king replied, “If anyone says anything to you, bring them to me, and they will not bother you again.”

11 She said, “Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger(M) of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed.”

“As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “not one hair(N) of your son’s head will fall to the ground.(O)”

12 Then the woman said, “Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.”

“Speak,” he replied.

13 The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself,(P) for the king has not brought back his banished son?(Q) 14 Like water(R) spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die.(S) But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person(T) does not remain banished from him.

15 “And now I have come to say this 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 his servant’s request. 16 Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’(U)

17 “And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king secure my inheritance, for my lord the king is like an angel(V) of God in discerning(W) good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”

18 Then the king said to the woman, “Don’t keep from me the answer to what I am going to ask you.”

“Let my lord the king speak,” the woman said.

19 The king asked, “Isn’t the hand of Joab(X) with you in all this?”

The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me to do this and who put all these words into the mouth of your servant. 20 Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom(Y) like that of an angel of God—he knows everything that happens in the land.(Z)”

21 The king said to Joab, “Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

22 Joab fell with his face to the ground to pay him honor, and he blessed the king.(AA) Joab said, “Today your servant knows that he has found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his servant’s request.”

23 Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. 24 But the king said, “He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.

25 In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him. 26 Whenever he cut the hair of his head(AB)—he used to cut his hair once a year because it became too heavy for him—he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels[b] by the royal standard.

27 Three sons(AC) and a daughter were born to Absalom. His daughter’s name was Tamar,(AD) and she became a beautiful woman.

28 Absalom lived two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king’s face. 29 Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So he sent a second time, but he refused to come. 30 Then he said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley(AE) there. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

31 Then Joab did go to Absalom’s house, and he said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?(AF)”

32 Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent word to you and said, ‘Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur?(AG) It would be better for me if I were still there!”’ Now then, I want to see the king’s face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death.”(AH)

33 So Joab went to the king and told him this. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed(AI) Absalom.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 14:4 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts spoke
  2. 2 Samuel 14:26 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms
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