2 Samuel 14:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.

NIV: "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.

NASB: Now then, the reason I have come to speak this word to my lord the king is that the people have made me afraid; so your servant said, ‘Let me now speak to the king, perhaps the king will perform the request of his slave.

CSB: "Now therefore, I’ve come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request.

NLT: I have come to plead with my lord the king because people have threatened me. I said to myself, ‘Perhaps the king will listen to me

KJV: Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.

NKJV: Now therefore, I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. And your maidservant said, ‘I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his maidservant.

Commentators say the intended structure of this passage is unclear. The crafty woman from Tekoa first tells the story of her clan's plan to execute her murderous son. She asks David to order them to spare him for the sake of her family's future, which he agrees to do (2 Samuel 14:5–11).

Then, suddenly, she speaks directly to David, comparing his forgiveness of her son to his own situation with Absalom. With great boldness, she tells him that he would be guilty of harming Israel's future if he didn't pardon his son's crime of murder and bring him back home to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 14:12–14).

Now she returns to speaking of her bereavement as if it's true. She sets aside the confrontation about David's pardon of Absalom and sums up her supposed request: to pardon her son because she was afraid the people would kill him.

Joab set her up to give David a fake story about her dilemma. He told her what to say, but the text isn't clear how much he told her: the reason he chose her is because she's shrewd and clever (2 Samuel 14:1–3). If Joab gave her everything she says, he sandwiched his message to David in between stories and flattery that emphasize David's power and the woman's vulnerability.

It's also possible that he didn't tell her to say this part, but she's afraid that David will be angry if he realizes her story is fake.

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).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.