14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's a
heart [was] toward Absalom.
(a) That the king favoured him.
14:2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman,
and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a
mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and b anoint
not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long
time mourned for the dead:
(b) In token of mourning: for they used anointing to seem
cheerful.
14:6 And thy handmaid had two c sons, and they two strove
together in the field, and [there was] none to part them,
but the one smote the other, and slew him.
(c) Under this parable she describes the death of Amnon by
Absalom.
14:7 And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine
handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his
brother, that we may kill him, for the d life of his
brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also:
and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall
not leave to my husband [neither] name nor remainder upon
the earth.
(d) Because he has slain his brother he ought to be slain
according to the law, (Ge 9:6, Ex 21:12).
14:9 And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O
king, the e iniquity [be] on me, and on my father's
house: and the king and his throne [be] guiltless.
(e) Concerning the breach of the Law which punishes blood,
let me bear the blame.
14:11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the king f remember the
LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers
of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son.
And he said, [As] the LORD liveth, there shall not one
hair of thy son fall to the earth.
(f) Swear that they will not revenge the blood, which are
many in number.
14:13 And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou g thought
such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth
speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king
doth not fetch home again his banished.
(g) Why do you give contrary sentence to your son Absalom?
14:14 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 h means,
that his banished be not expelled from him.
(h) God has often provided ways (as sanctuaries) to save
them, whom man judges worthy of death.
14:15 Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto
my lord the king, [it is] because the people i 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.
(i) For I thought they would kill my son.
14:17 Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king
shall now be comfortable: for as an k angel of God, so
[is] my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore
the LORD thy God will be with thee.
(k) Is of great wisdom to discern right from wrong.
14:19 And the king said, [Is not] l the hand of Joab with thee
in all this? And the woman answered and said, [As] thy
soul liveth, my lord the king, none 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 mouth of thine handmaid:
(l) Have you not done this by the counsel of Joab.
14:20 To fetch about this m form of speech hath thy servant
Joab done this thing: and my lord [is] wise, according to
the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all [things] that
[are] in the earth.
(m) By speaking further in a parable than plainly.
14:21 And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have n done
this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom
again.
(n) I have granted your request.
14:24 And the king said, Let him o turn to his own house, and
let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own
house, and saw not the king's face.
(o) Covering by this his affection, and showing some part
of justice to please the people.
14:26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every 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 p shekels after the king's weight.
(p) Which weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces after half an ounce
the shekel.
14:30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is
near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it q on
fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
(q) The wicked are impatient in their affections, and
spare no unlawful means to accomplish them.
14:32 And 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: now therefore let me
see the king's face; and r if there be [any] iniquity in
me, let him kill me.
(r) If I have offended by revenging my sister's dishonour:
thus the wicked justify themselves in their evil.
