2 Samuel 14:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The Lord your God be with you!"

NIV: "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 of God in discerning good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’ "

NASB: Then your servant said, 'Please let the word of my lord the king be comforting, for as the angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and evil. And may the Lord your God be with you.'

CSB: Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you."

NLT: Yes, my lord the king will give us peace of mind again.’ I know that you are like an angel of God in discerning good from evil. May the Lord your God be with you.'

KJV: Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee.

NKJV: Your maidservant said, ‘The word of my lord the king will now be comforting; for as the angel of God, so is my lord the king in discerning good and evil. And may the Lord your God be with you.’ ”

Joab has asked a clever woman to appeal to David's sympathies. She claims one of her sons has killed the other, and her clansmen want to execute her husband's only remaining heir. She is relentless until David agrees to pardon her son. She then reveals that David is in the same situation. His third son Absalom killed his firstborn Amnon. Absalom, the heir apparent, is currently in exile. God is gracious, no matter the sin. David should find a way to forgive Absalom and bring him home (2 Samuel 14:1–14).

The woman returns to her own story. She flatters David and claims she never doubted that he would do the right thing (2 Samuel 14:15–16). Angels are God's messengers; she's saying David's judgment comes from God.

When she says, "The Lord your God be with you" [emphasis added], she doesn't mean that she doesn't worship YHWH. Her entire story is based on the Mosaic Covenant that says God will make the people fertile and keep them on the land if they follow Him (Deuteronomy 28:1–14). She's emphasizing, again, that David is wise and good because he's doing what God would want him to.

She needn't have bothered. David sees through her act. He knows that Joab sent her and the entire situation was about him and Absalom. He asks her directly if Joab is behind this, and she responds with another round of flattery about his wisdom (2 Samuel 14:18–20). She's just lied to the king. It's possible she's afraid of how he will respond.

David doesn't respond to her, but he does address Joab. Absalom can come home, but he cannot rejoin the family or the court. Joab is content with that decision and sends for the exiled prince (2 Samuel 18:21–24).

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.