Chapter Fourteen

David’s reconciliation with Absalom

2 Samuel 14:2. And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman; and said to her: Pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but act as a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time; Tekoa – south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron.

2 Samuel 14:7. Now the whole family has risen against your handmaid, and they say: Give up the man who killed his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he murdered, and destroy the heir as well. Thus they will quench my remaining ember, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth. “All the family” – of the slain.

2 Samuel 14:9. Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king: On me, my lord the king, be the guilt, and on the house of my father; but the king and his throne are guiltless. “But the king and his throne are guiltless” – in the prevention of bloody vengeance on the murderer (see Num 35:6; Deut 4:42; Josh 20:3).

2 Samuel 14:11. And she said: Please, O king, remember the Lord your God, that the avengers of blood do not destroy my son any further. And the king said: As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground. “Please, O king,” remember your promise and, for the sake of “the Lord your God”, fulfill it, so that the avengers of blood do not increase and destroy my son.

2 Samuel 14:13. And he said: Speak. And the woman said: Why have you thought such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king condemns himself, in that the king does not bring his banished one home again. “Why have you thought such a thing against the people of God?” that is, why do you, sire, so decisively stand against the ancient custom of the Israeli people to avenge the innocent blood of the slain by the blood of the murderer, and yet you yourself appear to some degree guilty of the same, since you are still punishing your son Absalom with exile for the blood of his brother Amnon which he shed?

2 Samuel 14:14. We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up. But God does not take away the life of him who devises means to keep off his banished one from him. If God himself spares the transgressor and accepts the rejected, shall we, insignificance, exceed him in our severity toward the transgressed?

2 Samuel 14:24. And the king said: Let him withdraw to his own house, but he shall not see my face. So Absalom withdrew to his own house and did not see the king’s face. “And he shall not see my face” – a sign that Absalom’s return to his homeland did not yet signify complete forgiveness for the crime he had committed.

2 Samuel 14:26. And when he cut the hair of his head – for it was his custom to cut it every year, because it was heavy on him – the hair of his head weighed two hundred shekels by the king’s weight. The shekel “by the king’s weight” – is the same as the “holy” shekel, introduced into use by Moses. The weight and value of the holy shekel were equal to two ancient shekels (of lesser weight and value), that is, the holy shekel in terms of weight equaled 1 lot, and in terms of value – 86 kopeks (see the Biblical Archaeology of Archimandrite Hieronim, vol. I, p. 268–289).

2 Samuel 14:29. And Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but Joab would not come to him. And he sent again a second time; but Joab would not come. It is evident that Joab interceded for Absalom not so much out of devotion to him as out of a desire to please David (cf. 2 Sam 14:1-3).

2 Samuel 14:32. And Absalom said to Joab: Behold, I sent for you, saying: Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say: Why have I come from Geshur? It would have been better for me to remain there. Now let me see the king’s face; and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death. The position of a disgraced person at court, after his former honor and kindness, seemed unbearable to Absalom, and he resorted to very decisive measures to see Joab and to beseech him to intercede with the king for complete pardon of his guilty son.

2 Samuel 14:33. And Joab went to the king and told him; and he called for Absalom. So he came to the king, and [bowed to him] and fell on his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom. “And the king kissed Absalom” – as a sign of his forgiveness.