1Joab instructeth a woman of Tekoah, and sendeth her to the king. 4She entertaineth the king with a feigned tale, the intent of which is to obtain leave for Absalom's return. 21Joab is sent to fetch him, but he is not allowed to see the king. 25Absalom's beauty; 27his children. 28After two years he getteth admittance to the king by Joab's means.
1NOW Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s 1heart was toward Absalom.
1 As his heart was so inclined toward him and that he would be pleased to see him brought back again but that he might want a suitable opportunity or an honest pretense, he therefore plots a cunning way for it, which is mentioned in the sequel.
2And Joab sent to 2Tekoah, and fetched thence a 3wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with 4oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:
2 A city, situated upon a hill on the northern borders of Judah, not far from Jerusalem. See 2 Chron. 11:6.
3 Compare 2 Sam. 13 on verse 3.
4 See Ruth 3 on verse 3.
3And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab 5put the words in her mouth.
5 That is, he told her the very words which she afterwards would repeat to the king. Compare Exod. 4 on verse 15.
4¶And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her 6face to the ground, and did 7obeisance, and said, 8Help, O king.
6 As a sign of humble reverence, as Ruth 2:10; 1 Sam. 20:41; 25:23, 24; 2 Sam. 14:22; 1 Kings 18:7, etc.
7 See Gen. 18 on verse 2.
8 Or, deliver, give salvation.
5And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.
6And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was 9none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.
9Deliverer or rescuer. Consequently none could witness of the case of the offence. See Deut. 19:15, etc.
7And, behold, the whole 10family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill 11him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my 12coal which is left, and shall not 13leave to my husband neither 14name nor remainder upon the earth.
10 To execute the law of revenge of blood against the slayer. See Num. 35:19; Deut. 19:12, etc.
11 That is, the life or the person.
12 That is, put mine only son that is left to death, whereby the family might be planted and preserved, as from a coal of fire may be raised and preserved.
13 Hebr. put.
14 Because this son was only to bear his father’s name and to be the heir. See Deut. 25:6; Ruth 4:5, 10.
8And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge 15concerning thee.
15Over you, or, about you, concerning you. The meaning is: I will give charge that no hurt shall come to your son. Or, (as some would have it), I will cause the matter to be examined by judges.
9And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the 16iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless.
16 If there may be any in this your sentence, I take the same upon me, as being assured of my son’s innocence or the equity of your sentence.
10And the king said, Whosoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall 17not touch thee any more.
17 Hebr. not add or proceed to strike you, that is, to vex you, trouble you.
11Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the 18LORD 19thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy 20any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, 21As the LORD liveth, 22there shall not one 23hair of thy son fall to the earth.
18 It seems that she looks at the law given by God, Num. 35:11, 12. Some perceive that by these words she requires an oath from the king. Others, that she looks on the example of Cain who murdered his brother, whom God spared.
19 That is, his.
20 The meaning is: Seeing there are many kinsmen and avengers of blood, it would be requisite that the king would not only give charge to one but to all. Otherwise one or another, having received no charge to the contrary, might easily slay my son.
21 Understand upon this: I shall also do what I have said.
22 Understand upon this: Then let God do this and that to me. See of such an oath Gen. 14 on verse 23.
23 That is, I shall take order that your son shall not be damaged in the least. See 1 Sam. 14:45; 1 Kings 1:52; Acts 27:34 and compare Mat. 10:30.
12Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
13And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought 24such a thing against the 25people of God? for the king doth speak this 26thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his 27banished.
24 Namely, what thou hast at once condemned in thy sentence as being unjust and unseemly.
25 Which long for Absalom’s return that he may reign for their good in his old father’s stead.
26 That is, the preceding sentence in my son’s case.
27 Namely, Absalom, whose case, she would say, is like her son’s case; although there was a great difference between both, in that Absalom had not slain his brother in the fight, nor unawares, but had caused him to be treacherously murdered. See 2 Sam. 13:28.
14For we must needs 28die, and are as water spilt on the ground, 29which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth 30God respect any 31person: yet doth he devise 32means, that his 33banished be not expelled from 34him.
28 Hebr. dying die; namely, if Absalom does not return. Others understand this and the words following of the natural death, as if she had said: Do not hasten Absalom’s death, he shall yet die soon enough as all of us must die once, and do not rise again till the last day.
29 That is, cannot be brought together again, when it is once poured forth on the ground.
30 For His people’s sake, lest being deprived of Absalom, we would after thy death be without an head and protector and become a prey unto our enemies.
31 Or, hath not taken away his soul, that is, Absalom’s life. Other, and God will not accept any person, namely, that any man would evade death.
32 That is, and he (namely the king) shall think thoughts, etc. Devise, procure means to order the matter to that end. Understand that after his death the kingdom may be provided for a successor.
33 Absalom.
34 So that he would not return to God’s people.
15Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the 35people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid 36said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the 37request of his handmaid.
35 Speaking daily, as it is accounted in the previous verse, for fear that Absalom might totally stay away.
36 Namely, by herself, that is, she thought; also in verse 17.
37 That is, the counsel, proposal.
16For the king will hear, to 38deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the 39inheritance of God.
38 And consequently must do in like manner to his son Absalom, in regard of the likeness of both these cases.
39 That is, from God’s people, being as dear unto Him as any man’s inheritance can be unto him.
17Then thine handmaid 40said, The 41word of my lord the king 42shall now be comfortable: for 43as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to 44discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God 45will be with thee.
40 That is, thought, as verse 15.
41 That is, the sentence, the judgment.
42 Expressing desire or wish. Or, shall now be for rest, that is, shall serve for comfort and rest, not only to me and my son, but consequently also unto Absalom, the king himself and all the people who long for Absalom.
43 As wise as, etc. See verse 20.
44 That is, to understand, to discern, to judge what is good or what is bad. Also 2 Sam. 19:27.
45 Or, be with thee.
18Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.
19And the king said, Is not the 46hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, 47none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the 48mouth of thine handmaid:
46 That is, you do all this by Joab’s suggestion and direction, do you not?
47 Other, if there be any turning away to the right hand or to the left, etc. She wants to say: one would not be able to deceive the king with lies, seeing he at once perceives the meaning of the matter.
48 As verse 3.
20To 49fetch about this 50form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an 51angel of God, to know all things 52that are in the earth.
49 First speak of mine own case, and having had the king’s sentence of it, then turn the matter around and apply it to Absalom.
50 Hebr. face.
51 As verse 17.
52 Or, that happens in this land.
21¶And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, 53I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the 54young man Absalom again.
53 That is, I have granted the request, which you have made unto me by the woman of Tekoah. Or, thou hast done this thing, that is, so ordered it.
54 Hebr. lad; although he was a man. See of the Hebrew word in Gen. 22 on verse 5.
22And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and 55thanked the king: and Joab said, To day 56thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the 57request of 58his servant.
55 Hebr. blessed.
56 That is, I.
57 That is, the word, the advice.
58 Other, thy servant.
23So Joab arose and went to 59Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
59 See 2 Sam. 3 on verse 3; 2 Sam. 13:37.
24And the king said, Let 60him turn to his own house, and let him not see my 61face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
60 Absalom.
61 See Gen. 43 on verse 3. This served partly to refrain Absalom the more in the practice of his iniquity, and partly to avoid the offence and uneasiness, that might have risen among the godly and the king’s children, if Absalom had been restored again at once into equal degree with his brethren.
25¶But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
26And when he 62polled his head, (for it was at 63every year’s end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels 64after the king’s weight.a
62 That is, caused to be shaved, and so in the following words.
63 Hebr. from days to the days, that is, from year to year, or every year. See Lev. 25 on verse 29.
64 That is, according to the common civil shekel, and not the shekel of the sanctuary. See Gen. 20 on verse 16. Hebr. according to the king’s stone, that is, according to the royal weight. See Lev. 19 on verse 36; Deut. 25:13.
aafter the king’s weight: the exact weight is unknown; if standard, the entire weight would be about 6 pounds or 2.7 kilograms
27And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.
28¶So Absalom dwelt 65two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.
65 Hebr. two full years of days. See Gen. 41 on verse 1.
29Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
30Therefore 66he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is 67near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
66 Absalom.
67 Hebr. at mine hand, that is, side. The meaning is: at the side of my field.
31Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
32And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: 68now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any 69iniquity in me, let him kill me.
68 Absalom speaks this now to Joab.
69 Thus he speaks so boldly, because he well knew the king’s gracious goodness.
33So Joab came to the king, and 70told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king 71kissed Absalom.
70 Which Absalom had given him in charge.
71 Unto a sign of perfect reconciliation and favor. Compare Gen. 27 on verse 26.