Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 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 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.
7. the whole family, &c.] The whole clan demanded blood-revenge, according to the primitive custom, sanctioned and regulated by the Mosaic Law. See Num 35:19; Deu 19:12-13.
and we will destroy the heir also ] The woman puts these words that we may kill him and destroy the heir also into the mouth of her kinsmen, in order to make their conduct appear in the worst possible light, as actuated not so much by a wish to observe the law as by covetousness and a desire to share the inheritance among themselves. Cp. Mat 21:38.
they shall quench my coal which is left ] The surviving son, who is the last hope for the continuance of his family, is compared to the live coal still left among the embers, by which the fire almost extinct may be rekindled.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The whole family … – This indicates that all the kings sons, and the whole court, were against Absalom, and that the knowledge of this was what hindered David from yielding to his affection and recalling him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. The whole family is risen] They took on them the part of the avenger of blood; the nearest akin to the murdered person having a right to slay the murderer.
They shall quench my coal which is left] A man and his descendants or successors are often termed in Scripture a lamp or light. So, 2Sa 21:17, the men of David said, when they sware that he should no more go out with them to battle, That thou QUENCH not the LIGHT of Israel. See also Ps 132:17. And to raise up a lamp to a person signifies his having a posterity to continue his name and family upon the earth: thus, quench my coal that is left means destroying all hope of posterity, and extinguishing the family from among the people. The heathens made use of the same similitude. The few persons who survived the deluge of Deucalion are termed living coals, because by them the vital flame of the human race was to be rekindled on the earth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That we may kill him; according to the law, Num 35:19; Deu 19:12.
We will destroy the heir also; so they plainly discover that their prosecution of him was not so much from love of justice, as from a covetous desire to deprive him of the inheritance, and to transfer it to themselves; which self-interest might justly render their testimony suspected. Or perhaps these words are not spoken as the expresswords of the prosecutors, (who can hardly be thought so directly to express a sinister design,) but as the womans inference or comment upon what they were doing, (for this would be indeed the result of it, though they did not say so in express words,) thereby to represent her case as the more deserving pity.
My coal which is left; the poor remainder of my light and comfort, by whom alone my hopes may be revived and repaired.
To my husband; she names him rather than herself, because children bear the names of their fathers, not of their mothers.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. they shall quench my coal whichis leftThe life of man is compared in Scripture to a light. Toquench the light of Israel (2Sa21:17) is to destroy the king’s life; to ordain a lamp for anyone (Ps 132:17) is to granthim posterity; to quench a coal signifies here the extinction of thiswoman’s only remaining hope that the name and family of her husbandwould be preserved. The figure is a beautiful one; a coal live, butlying under a heap of embersall that she had to rekindle herfireto light her lamp in Israel.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid,…. Who had sheltered her son, that slew his brother, from the avenger of blood; and not only the next akin, the avenger of blood, but even all the kindred and relations of the deceased, those of her husband’s family rose up as one man, demanding justice:
and they said, deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew; pretending great regard to the deceased, and a zeal for justice, when the main thing aimed at was to get the inheritance into their own hands, as appears by what follows:
and we will destroy the heir also; and hereby she would insinuate to the king, that the reason why the rest of the king’s sons spake against Absalom to him, and stirred him up to punish him with death, was because he was heir to the crown, and they thought by removing him to make way for themselves:
and so they shall quench my coal that is left; she had but one son, as she represents her case, who was like a coal left among ashes, in the ruins of her family; the only one to support her, keep alive her family, and bear up and continue her husband’s name; and, as the Targum,
“they seek to kill the only one that is left;”
and so the family be extinct:
and shall not leave to my husband [neither] name nor remainder upon the earth; should he be delivered up to them and slain; but herein the fable or apologue differed greatly from the case it was intended to represent; for had Absalom been put to death, as the law required, David had sons enough to inherit his throne, and keep up his name.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7) We will destroy the heir also.The woman puts this into the mouth of the family, because this would be the result of what they proposed. The effect of the parable is greatly heightened by this, and there is no doubt intended a covert allusion to Absalom as the heir of David.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Quench my coal Extinguish the last living ember that gives light and joy to my house. A beautiful image to indicate the extinction of descendants. As a live coal hid in the ashes is the means of kindling future fires and light, so a widow’s only son is her only means of perpetuating her husband’s name.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Sa 14:7. So they shall quench my coal which is left The expression is singularly beautiful and expressive. Heathen authors seem to have borrowed it from hence. Plato and Lucian call the few men who survived the deluge , live coals, who were to re-kindle the vital flame, and continue the human race: and in Scripture a man and his successors are often called a lamp or light: see chap. 2Sa 21:17. Psa 132:17 and Calmet and Le Clerc.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Sa 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 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.
Ver. 7. And we will destroy the heir also. ] That the inheritance may be ours. They pretend zeal for justice: but self swayed them.
And so they shall quench my coal which is left.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the whole: Gen 4:14, Num 35:19, Deu 19:12
so they: Gen 27:45, Deu 25:6
quench: 2Sa 12:17
upon the earth: Heb. upon the face of the earth
Reciprocal: Num 35:12 – from the avenger Deu 19:6 – the avenger 2Sa 21:17 – quench Luk 7:12 – the only
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Sa 14:7. Deliver him, that we may kill him Put him to death, as the law requires, Num 35:18-19. We will destroy the heir also Take away his life, although he be the heir, or the only one remaining of the family. And so they shall quench my coal which is left Deprive me of the little comfort of my life which remains, and ruin the only hope of my family. Shall leave to my husband neither name nor remainder Shall utterly extinguish my husbands memory. The reader will easily observe that there is a great difference between the supposed case of this widow and that of David, however plausible their likeness may appear. For her son, she pretended, was slain in a scuffle with his brother, and his death, therefore, was not a premeditated murder, as was the death of Amnon. It also happened in the field, where there were no witnesses, whether he was killed wilfully: whereas all the kings sons saw Amnon designedly and barbarously murdered. And in the last particular the difference is as great as in either of the others. For Davids family was not in danger of being extinguished, if Absalom had been lost also; David having many children, and also many wives by whom he might have more.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
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, Gen 9:6, Exo 21:12.