Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 14:12
Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak [one] word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
12. Let thine handmaid, &c.] The great object of her errand has still to be effected. Firmly and clearly, but yet to all appearance incidentally, she argues from the case of her son to that of Absalom.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Having at last obtained what she wanted, the kings oath that her son should not die, she proceeds to the case of Absalom. The meaning of 2Sa 14:13 may be paraphrased thus: If you have done right as regards my son, how is it that you harbor such a purpose of vengeance against Absalom as to keep him, one of Gods people, an outcast in a pagan country, far from the worship of the God of Israel? Upon your own showing you are guilty of a great fault in not allowing Absalom to return.
The king doth speak … – literally, And from the king speaking this word (this sentence of absolution to my son) he is as one guilty; i. e. the sentence you have pronounced in favor of my son condemns your own conduct toward Absalom.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Having obliged the king by his oath in her supposed case, she now throws off the veil, and begins to apply this parable to the kings and kingdoms present case.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then the woman said, let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak [one] word unto my Lord the king,…. Having gained her point, and gotten a decree from him confirmed by an oath, that her son though he had killed his brother should not die; she proceeds to accommodate the parable, and apply it to the case of Absalom, and improve it in his favour:
and he said, say on; gave her leave to say what she had further to observe to him; see Lu 7:40.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2Sa 14:12-17. Then the woman said, &c. The woman, having so far gained her point, begged leave to say one word further; and, having obtained permission, immediately proceeded, 2Sa 14:13 to expostulate with the king upon his own conduct, and his unkindness to the people of GOD, in not pardoning his own son, and bringing him back from exile. His mercy to her son made him self-condemned in relation to his own. She then added a very natural and seasonable reflection, 2Sa 14:14 that death was the common lot of all men, some by one means, some by another; that in that state we are like water spilled upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; that God, if he pleased, could strike the offender dead; but inasmuch as he did not, it was because he would leave room for mercy; that he had devised means in his own law to arrest the avenger of blood, and in his appointed time to recall the man-slayer from his exile in the city of refuge: Num 35:25. But here, apprehending that she might have gone too far, and made too free with majesty, in expostulating so plainly upon a point of such importance, she excused this presumption, 2Sa 14:15 from the force put upon her by her people, who had so severely threatened her, that in this extremity she plainly saw she had no resource or hope of relief, but in laying her son’s case before the king; which she, 2Sa 14:16-17 confiding in his majesty’s mercy, and assuring herself that he would hear her with his wonted clemency, at length adventured to do; hoping that it might be a means of saving both herself and her son from being destroyed out of the inheritance of God, insinuating that her own life was wrapped up in his. We may here observe, that the single design and address of this device are sufficient proofs, if there were no other, to evince the Jewish people to have been neither unpolite nor uninformed. The clause in the 13th verse, for the king doth speak this thing, &c. is thus rendered by Houbigant, for the king’s purpose not to recall his exile is a kind of fault. The words in the 14th verse, neither doth God respect any person, may be rendered according to the ancient versions, but the Lord doth not take away the life.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(12) Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. (13) And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou 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. (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. (15) Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people 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. (16) For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. (17) Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee.
The wise woman of Tekoah having obtained her end, as suited to her own case as it appeared to the king’s view, now goes on to make application of it, as it suited the king’s in the case of Absalom. And she touches upon that string which might vibrate most on the affectionate feelings of David; namely, that Absalom was not only banished, but, says she, it is thy son, thy banished one, Absalom. I think it hardly necessary to remark, what I should conceive, unobserved by me, the pious Reader would himself instantly suggest; that if David’s heart felt for his banished son, what must be the heart of our God towards his poor banished ones, who by sin have committed murder on their own souls, and, but for his clemency in calling them home, must continue banished forever. O Israel (saith God) thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thine help. Heb 13:9 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Sa 14:12 Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak [one] word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
Ver. 12. And he said, Say on. ] See Trapp on “ 2Sa 14:5 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Let thine: 1Sa 25:24
speak one word: Gen 18:27, Gen 18:32, Gen 44:18, Jer 12:1
Say on: Act 26:1
Reciprocal: 2Sa 20:17 – Hear the words 1Ki 2:14 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Sa 14:12-13. Then the woman said Having gained this point, she begs leave to say one word more, which being granted, she immediately proceeds to expostulate with the king upon his own conduct, and unkindness to the people of God, in not pardoning his own son, and bringing him back from exile. Wherefore then If thou wouldest not permit the avengers of blood to molest me, or to destroy my son, who are but two persons; how unreasonable is it that thou shouldest proceed in thy endeavours to avenge Amnons blood upon Absalom, whose death would be grievous to the whole commonwealth of Israel, all whose eyes are upon him as the heir of the crown, and a wise, and valiant, and amiable person, unhappy only in this one act of killing Amnon, which was done upon a high provocation, and whereof thou thyself didst give the occasion by permitting Amnon to go unpunished? The king doth speak as one that is faulty By thy word, and promise, and oath, given to me for my son, thou condemnest thyself for not allowing the same equity toward thy own son. It is true, Absaloms case, as we have observed, was widely different from that which she had supposed. But David was too well affected to him to remark that difference, and was more desirous than she could be to apply that favourable judgment to his own son which he had given concerning hers.