2 Samuel 14:30 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then he said to his servants, "See, Joab 's field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire." So Absalom 's servants set the field on fire.

NIV: Then he said to his servants, "Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire." So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

NASB: Therefore he said to his servants, 'See, Joab’s plot is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.' So Absalom’s servants set the plot on fire.

CSB: Then Absalom said to his servants, "See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it!" So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

NLT: So Absalom said to his servants, 'Go and set fire to Joab’s barley field, the field next to mine.' So they set his field on fire, as Absalom had commanded.

KJV: Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.

NKJV: So he said to his servants, “See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

Absalom spent three years in exile after murdering his brother (2 Samuel 13:32). Joab, his cousin and King David's military commander, convinced David to let Absalom come home to Jerusalem. But David refuses to see Absalom or restore him to the royal court (2 Samuel 14:21–24). Absalom sent two messages to Joab, asking him to once again, advocate for him. Joab won't answer (2 Samuel 14:29). It's been two years, and Absalom is tired of waiting (2 Samuel 14:24).

When David refused to discipline Amnon for raping Tamar, Absalom murdered Amnon (2 Samuel 13). When Joab refuses to answer Absalom's summons, Absalom sets Joab's barley fields on fire. David, once so aggressive in war, displays an unhelpfully passive attitude in domestic affairs. Absalom doesn't have that limitation. He applies David's wartime aggression to defending his honor and pushing others to do what he wants. He ordered his servants to kill his brother; now he orders them to burn Joab's fields.

Though the fields are next to each other, most likely both men have their homes in the city of Jerusalem. Exodus 22:6 says that if someone sets a fire in their own property, they are responsible for damages if the fire spreads to someone else's grain. By tradition, if the grain were still unharvested, the cost will assume the fullest yield the lot could be expected to produce.

The Septuagint translation of this verse adds, "So Joab's servants came to him with their clothes torn, and they said to him, 'The servants of Absalom have set your field on fire.'" Nothing in the context suggests this can't be true, but it most likely wasn't part of the original text.

Second Samuel 14:28–33 describes David's reunion with Absalom. Absalom had fled to Geshur after murdering his half-brother for raping their sister (2 Samuel 13). After three years, Joab convinced David to let Absalom return home, but David refused to see him (2 Samuel 14:1–27). After another two years, Absalom convinces David to forgive him. What's good for the family is bad for the kingdom. Absalom's legitimacy makes it easier for him to win the favor of the people, take the crown, and drive David into exile (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.