2 Samuel 14:14

For we must needs die,.... As all must, herself, the king, and his sons, and indeed all men; this is the common case and lot of men; particularly she insinuates that David must die, and that there

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 means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

We must needs die, Heb. in dying we shall die, i. e. we shall certainly and suddenly die all of us; both thou, O king, who therefore art obliged to take due care of thy successor, who is Absalom; and Absalom, who, if he do not die by the hand of justice, must shortly die by the necessity of nature; and Amnon too must have died in the common way of all flesh, if Absalom had not cut him off. Therefore, O king, be not implacable towards Absalom for nipping a flower a little before its time of fading, and restore him to us all before he die in a strange land. Spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; which is quickly drunk up and buried in the earth, and cannot be recovered. Neither doth God respect any person, to wit, so far as to exempt him from this common law of dying. But this version seems not to agree with the Scripture phrase; for the accepting of a person is never to my knowledge expressed in Hebrew by nasa nephesh, which is the phrase here, but by nasa panira, every where. The words therefore may be rendered either thus, yet God will not take away, or doth not use to take away, (the future tense oft noting a continued act, as Hebricians observe,) the soul, or souls, or lives of men, to wit, by violence. God doth not severely and instantly cut off offenders, but suffers them to live till they die by the course of nature; and therefore so shouldst thou do too. Or rather thus yet God hath not taken away his soul or life; the pronoun his being understood here as it is in many other places, and as being easily supplied out of the context. So the sense is, God hath hitherto spared him, and did not suffer his brethren to kill him, as in reason might have been expected; nor hath God himself yet cut him off for his murder, as he oft doth with persons who are out of the magistrate’ s reach; but hath hitherto preserved him even in a heathenish land; all which are intimations that God would have him spared. Yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him; or, but hath devised means, &c., i.e. hath given laws to this purpose, that the man-slayer who is banished should not always continue in banishment, but upon the high priest’ s death return to his own city; whereby he hath showed his pleasure that the avenger of blood should not implacably persist in seeking revenge, and that the man-slayer should be spared. Or rather thus, but thinketh thoughts, or, but hath designed, or, therefore he intendeth that he who is banished (to wit, Absalom) be not (always) expelled or banished from him, i.e. from God and from his people, and from the place of his worship, but that he should return home to him.

2 Samuel 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 means, that his banished be not expelled from him.Ver. 14. For we must needs die.] This is her second argument, as she had them ready coined to her hand both for matter and form, and put into her mouth by Joab, and it is this, It is appointed for all men once to die: thou art mortal, though a king; Amnon is dead already and past recovery, as water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Absalom is dead in law, and if he continue in exile, likely enough to die with sorrow; or if he be cut off for his fratricide, what wilt thou do for a fit successor? and what will become of the public welfare? will not all go to wreck and ruin? will not our coal, yet alive, be quite quenched? why then shouldst thou be so sharp set against thy son Absalom? Neither doth God respect any person.] But whether king or captives, he must die; we all carry our precious souls as precious water in a brittle glass, or as a candle in a paper lantern, soon puffed out. It is but reason therefore that thou bethink thee of a successor, and so provide for the public. The thought of death is terrible to great ones. Queen Elizabeth could not endure to hear of it. She frowned upon a good bishop for imminding her of her great age in a sermon, and of the climacteric year (age 63) of her life, which happened at that time, and put him to some trouble. But this woman of Tekoah was upon a pleasing subject, and might say anything. Some render this text thus, Neque vero solet Deus vitam eripere, God is not wont to take away life from those that have forfeited it - for then what had become of thee for the slaughter of Uriah? - Mavult enim parcere supplicibus quam sontes plectere; he delighteth not in the death of a sinner, but deviseth means how to save such: and will not you, sir, do the like? Will it not be your office and honour to express God to the world, since you represent his person? Regem ad recordationem Uriae non nisi timide et tecte revocat. - Castal.

(14) We must needs die.—The woman now goes on to a further argument from the uncertainty of life. Whether she would suggest the possibility of Absalom’s dying in banishment (as some think), or of David’s death before he has been reconciled to his son (as others hold) does not matter. She craftily withdraws attention from the real point—the question of right and justice—and, assuming that the thing ought to be done, suggests that delay is unsafe since life is uncertain. Still another explanation of her argument may be given: “Amnon is dead, and it is useless to grieve longer for him; God does not respect persons, Absalom too must die, and you yourself must die; improve the time and the blessings yet left while there is opportunity.” Neither doth God respect any person.—The Hebrew is difficult, but the English is certainly wrong. The literal translation is “And God doth not take away the soul, but thinketh thoughts that He may not banish the banished one;” and the meaning is that God in wrath remembers mercy, and does not press punishment to extremes.

Verse 14. For we must needs die] Whatever is done must be done quickly; all must die; God has not exempted any person from this common lot. Though Amnon be dead, yet the death of Absalom cannot bring him to life, nor repair this loss. Besides, for his crime, he justly deserved to die; and thou, in this case didst not administer justice. Horrible as this fratricide is, it is a pardonable case: the crime of Amnon was the most flagitious; and the offense to Absalom, the ruin of his beloved sister, indescribably great. Seeing, then, that the thing is so, and that Amnon can be no more recalled to life than water spilt upon the ground can be gathered up again; and that God, whose vicegerent thou art, and whose example of clemency as well as justice thou art called to imitate, devises means that those who were banished from him by sin and transgression, may not be finally expelled from his mercy and his kingdom; restore thy son to favour, and pardon his crime, as thou hast promised to restore my son, and the Lord thy God will be with thee. This is the sum and sense of the woman's argument. The argument contained in this 14th verse is very elegant, and powerfully persuasive; but one clause of it has been variously understood, Neither doth God respect any person; the Hebrew is, ולא ישא אלהים נפש velo yissa Elohim nephesh, "And God doth not take away the soul." The Septuagint has it, ΚαιληψεταιὁΘεοςτηνψυχην; And God will receive the soul. This intimates that, after human life is ended, the soul has a state of separate existence with God. This was certainly the opinion of these translators, and was the opinion of the ancient Jews, at least three hundred years before the incarnation; about which time this translation was made. The Vulgate has, Nec volt Deus perire animam, "Nor does God will the destruction of the soul." God is not the author of death; neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living; imitate him; pardon and recall thy son.

14. For we must needs die] The argument of this verse seems to be, that since life is uncertain and cannot be restored, and since God Himself sets the example of mercy, David should be reconciled to his son at once, before it is too late. For the simile of water spilt, cp. Psalms 58:7. neither doth God respect any person] This translation cannot be defended. Better: and God doth not take away life, but deviseth devices (lit. thinketh thoughts, cp. 2 Samuel 14:13) to the end that he may not [utterly] banish a banished one. The statement is quite general, but contains a pointed allusion to God’s mercy in sparing David’s own life when he had deserved death for adultery and murder, and devising a plan to bring him to repentance and so restore him to His presence.

His banished - The use of the word as applied to one of the people of God driven into a pagan land, is well illustrated by Deuteronomy 30:4-5; Jeremiah 40:12; Micah 4:6; Zephaniah 3:19.

14. As water spilt upon the ground — “What could be better calculated to gain the attention of a poet like David than the beautiful images which she employs, and which are fully equal to any that he