2 Samuel 14:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.

NIV: Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

NASB: For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up. Yet God does not take away life, but makes plans so that the banished one will not be cast out from Him.

CSB: We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; he would devise plans so that the one banished from him does not remain banished.

NLT: All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.

KJV: For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

NKJV: For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.

Joab, David's military commander and nephew, knows Absalom murdered his own brother, Amnon, for raping their sister. Yet Joab is firmly convinced it would be better for Israel if David brought Absalom back from exile. Joab has enlisted the help of a crafty woman and told her what to say.

Her performance starts by inspiring pity. She tells a sad story about how her husband is dead. Then, one son killed the other, so her clansmen want to execute the remaining son. Her husband will have no heir (2 Samuel 14:4–7). When David refuses to make a judgment immediately, she manipulates him until he does (2 Samuel 14:8–11).

Once David rules on that situation, she boldly and prophetically tells him he's harming Israel by keeping his son in exile (2 Samuel 14:12–13). Now, she seems to speak in poetry about the transience of life and God's desire that all will live and be reconciled. The woman appeals to the very character of God in making Joab's argument to David. God finds ways to bring those who are banished for their sins back home into relationship with Him. That's what God does. In fact, that's what God did for David after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband (2 Samuel 12:13). Isaiah will later say that judgment is God's "strange" and "alien" work (Isaiah 28:21). If God can forgive David after he murdered Uriah, and David can forgive her fictional son, David can forgive Absalom.

As if she realizes she's gone too far, she returns to her vulnerability and flatters David's goodness and wisdom (2 Samuel 14:15–17). It's not clear when David realizes her story is fake. But he sees Joab's hand in the incident. And, perhaps unwisely, he allows Absalom to return (2 Samuel 14:18–21).

Second Samuel 14:12–20 records David's realization that he's being manipulated. Joab sent a woman to ask David to pardon her son for murdering his brother; David agrees (2 Samuel 14:1–11). She pivots and tells David to forgive his own son, Absalom, for killing his brother Amnon. David recognizes Joab's hand in the situation but agrees to bring Absalom home from exile. Absalom takes the opportunity to win the people's loyalty and conspire to take the throne (2 Samuel 15).

Second Samuel 14 sets the scene for Absalom's rebellion against David. Joab wants David to forgive Absalom for murdering his brother and end his exile. Joab has a woman pretend to be a widow, who tells a story about a murderous son to convince David to pardon his own son. David brings Absalom home to Jerusalem, but not to the court or family. Joab eventually convinces David to see Absalom and the two are officially reconciled. With freedom, status, and ambition, Absalom starts a campaign to draw the people's hearts away from David and toward himself (2 Samuel 15:1–6).

Second Samuel 14 continues God's promise that tragedy will plague David's family. This is a curse for David's sin against Uriah and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:9–11). David's son Amnon raped his own half-sister Tamar. Tamar's full brother Absalom avenged her by killing Amnon, then fled to his maternal grandfather (2 Samuel 13). David thinks about Absalom, and Joab convinces David to bring him home and reconcile with him. Absalom wins the hearts of the people and takes the throne while David flees. Eventually, Absalom will be dead, and David will be a chastened man and wiser king. (2 Samuel 15–20).