2 Samuel 14
BSASBJoab sees that David misses his exiled son Absalom, so he sends a wise woman from Tekoa with a made-up story to move the king. David is led to bring Absalom home, but he refuses to see him for two years. When the two finally meet, the kiss looks like full reconciliation, but the chapter leaves us uneasy about Absalom’s heart.
2 Samuel 14:1
Joab, David’s nephew and commander, sees that the king’s heart is pulled toward Absalom. Absalom had fled after killing his brother Amnon, and David’s longing is unresolved. Joab sets out to turn that longing into action.
BSA: heart (“the seat of emotions, will, and intellect”): David’s longing is not a passing mood; it involves his feelings, his will and his thinking together.
2 Samuel 14:2-3
Joab hires a wise woman from Tekoa, a town in Judah’s hill country. She is to dress as a long-grieving mourner and tell a prepared story. Joab hopes a parable will get past David’s defenses, much as Nathan’s story did in chapter 12.
BSA: wise (“intelligent, discerning”): She is chosen for her skill in reading people and speaking persuasively.
See also: 2 Samuel 12:1-7.
2 Samuel 14:4-7
She bows low and cries for help. Her tale: one of her two sons killed the other in a field fight, and now her family demands the killer’s life. If they get it, her husband’s name and line will end. She is the last ember of a dying fire.
BSA: ember (“burning coal, last spark”): The picture of one glowing coal shows how close her family is to going out forever. heir (“one who inherits, successor”): Killing the surviving son would also end the family’s claim to its land.
Hebrew: גַּחַלְתִּי (gachalti, H1513) — “my coal, my glowing ember.” The word is a tender picture of a small, living spark. Losing it means more than a death; a household goes dark.
2 Samuel 14:8-11
David first promises to give orders. She presses him, and he promises with an oath that her son will not be harmed. The king commits himself to showing mercy to a man guilty of killing his brother. He does not yet see that the case points back to himself.
BSA: avenger of blood (“the redeemer, kinsman”): This was the relative responsible under Israelite custom for avenging a death.
See also: Numbers 35:19; 1 Samuel 14:45.
2 Samuel 14:12-14
Now she springs the trap. By sparing her son, the king has condemned his own refusal to bring Absalom home. She reminds him that life is fragile, like spilled water, and that God does not simply cast people away but plans ways to bring the banished back.
BSA: banished (“exiled, driven away”): It describes someone driven from home and presence, the very state Absalom is in. devises (“thinks, plans”): God is pictured as actively planning a way home for the outcast.
Hebrew: מַחֲשָׁבוֹת (machashavot, H4284) — “plans, thoughts.” The word usually means careful designs. God does not leave the outcast to chance; He thinks out ways to restore him.
See also: Ezekiel 33:11; Luke 15:20.
2 Samuel 14:15-17
She says fear of the people drove her to the king, and she flatters him as wise as God’s messenger. The flattery is partly tactical, but the hope is true: a king’s word can give rest. She closes with a blessing, asking that the LORD be with him.
BSA: angel (“messenger, representative”): She compares David to one who speaks and judges on God’s behalf. rest (“peace, comfort”): She asks for a word of settled peace, not just a legal ruling.
2 Samuel 14:18-20
David sees through her story and asks whether Joab is behind it. She admits it. She says Joab acted to change the situation. Her praise of David’s wisdom sits oddly beside the fact that she has just tricked him.
BSA: wisdom (“insight, discernment”): She credits David with seeing into everything, even as he has just uncovered her scheme.
2 Samuel 14:21-23
David gives the order, and Joab, delighted, bows and blesses him. Joab goes to Geshur, where Absalom had stayed with his mother’s family, and brings him back to Jerusalem. The exile is over, but nothing has yet been mended between father and son.
BSA: favor (“grace, kindness”): Joab sees David’s granting of the request as an act of kindness to himself.
See also: 2 Samuel 13:37-38.
2 Samuel 14:24
David allows Absalom home but will not see him. It is a half-measure: the son is in the city yet shut out of the father’s presence. Mercy without a real meeting leaves the wound open.
BSA: face (“presence, countenance”): To see the king’s face meant to be received into his favor, and Absalom is denied that.
See also: Luke 15:20.
2 Samuel 14:25-27
Absalom is described as the most admired and handsome man in Israel. His hair is so thick that its yearly cutting is weighed in the royal standard. He has three sons and a beautiful daughter, Tamar. Such praise and beauty set the stage for pride.
BSA: flaw (“blemish, imperfection”): The word is used of physical perfection, and it contrasts with the inner fault the story will reveal.
See also: 1 Samuel 16:7.
2 Samuel 14:28-30
After two years Absalom still cannot see his father. He sends twice for Joab, who ignores him. So Absalom has Joab’s barley field burned. It shows how impatient and willing to use force he is.
BSA: refused (“would not be willing, was unwilling”): Joab has used Absalom’s cause and now simply declines to be used by him.
2 Samuel 14:31-32
Joab storms over and demands to know why his field was burned. Absalom says that being home but barred from the king is worse than exile, and he dares his father either to receive him or to kill him if he is guilty. It is a bitter, half-honest speech.
BSA: iniquity (“moral evil, sin”): Absalom speaks of guilt as a challenge to his father, not as an admission before God.
2 Samuel 14:33
Joab reports, David summons Absalom, and Absalom bows to the ground. The king kisses him. Outwardly the family is reconciled, but the chapter shows no repentance and no honest reckoning with the killing. The open question is what Absalom will do next.
BSA: kissed (“with affection and forgiveness”): The kiss was the visible sign of welcome and restored relationship.
See also: Genesis 33:4.