2 Samuel 14:2

_AND JOAB SENT TO TEKOAH, AND FETCHED THENCE A WISE WOMAN, AND SAID UNTO HER, I PRAY THEE, FEIGN THYSELF TO BE A MOURNER, AND PUT ON NOW MOURNING APPAREL, AND ANOINT NOT THYSELF WITH OIL, BUT BE AS A WOMAN THAT HAD A LONG TIME MOURNED FOR THE DEAD:_ Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman. The king was strongly attached to Absalom; and having now gotten over his sorrow for the violent death of Amnon, was desirous of again enjoying the society of his favourite son, wine had now been three long years absent. But a dread of public opinion, and a regard to the public interests, made him hesitate about recalling or pardoning his guilty son; and Joab, whose discerning mind perceived this struggle between parental affection and royal duty, devised a plan for relieving the scruples, and at the same time gratifying the wishes, of his master. Having procured a country-woman of superi...

1-20 We may notice here, how this widow pleads God's mercy, and his clemency toward poor guilty sinners. The state of sinners is a state of banishment from God. God pardons none to the dishonour of his law and justice, nor any who are impenitent; nor to the encouragement of crimes, or the hurt of others....

Verse 2 Samuel 14:2. _JOAB SENT TO TEKOAH_] Tekoah, according to St. _Jerome_, was a little city in the tribe of Judah, about twelve miles from Jerusalem. There are several circumstances relative to this woman and her case which deserve to be noticed:- 1. She was a _widow_, and therefore her condition of life was the better calculated to excite compassion. 2. She lived at some _distance_ from Jerusalem, which rendered the case difficult to be readily inquired into; and consequently there was the less danger of detection. 3. She was _advanced in years_, as Josephus says, that her application might have the more weight. 4. She put on _mourning_, to heighten the idea of distress. 5. She framed _a case similar to that in which David stood_, in order to convin

TEKOAH - In the south of Judah, six miles from Bethlehem, the modern Tekua. The rough, wild district was well suited for the lawless profession of the wise woman; it abounds in caves, as does the country near Endor....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 14:1 THE KING'S HEART WAS TOWARD ABSALOM. Again there is a diversity of view as to the right rendering. The preposition does not usually mean "toward," but "against," and is so rendered in 2 Samuel 14:13. The whole phrase occurs again only in Daniel 11:28, and certainly there implies enmity. The whole attitude of David towards Absalom is one of persistent hostility, and, even when Joab had obtained his recall, for two full years he would not admit him into his presence. What has led most commentators to force the meaning here and in 2 Samuel 13:39 is the

AND JOAB SENT TO TEKOAH,.... Which Kimchi says was a city in the tribe of Asher, and others in the tribe of Benjamin, but it seems rather to be in the tribe, of Judah, 2 Chronicles 11:5; according Jerom s, it was twelve miles from Jerusalem, though in another place t he says it was but nine; of this place was Amos, and some think u the woman after mentioned was his grandmother. It was proper to lay the scene of the affair to be proposed to the king at some distance, that it might not soon and easily be inquired into: AND FETCHED THENCE A WISE WOMAN; one much advanced in years, as Josephus says w, whose years had taught her wisdom by experience; a woman of good sense, and of a good address, apt at expression and reply, and knew how to manage an affair committed to her; and among other things, perhaps, was famous for acting the part of a mourner at funerals, for wh

4. DAVID AND ABSALOM CHAPTER 14 _ 1. Joab's scheme (2 Samuel 14:1)_ 2. The woman of Tekoah before the king (2 Samuel 14:4) 3. Joab brings Absalom to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 14:21) 4. Absalom's beauty (2 Samuel 14:25) 5. Absalom sees his father (2 Samuel 14:28) In all these records of those sad events we hear not a word that David inquired of the Lord. Joab now appears upon the scene again and that for evil, though he did not mean to do evil to the king. He concocts a scheme by whi

2 SAMUEL 14. THE RETURN OF ABSALOM (J). 2 SAMUEL 14:1. Joab perceives the king's longing for his son (p. 67), and sends to him a woman of Tekoa (p. 31), about 5 miles S. of Beth-lehem, with a trumped-up tale that she was in danger of being left childless, because one of her two sons had killed his brother, and the kinsfolk wished to put the survivor to death. The king promised to intervene. 2 SAMUEL 14:9. The woman continued to importune him, and at last she seems to admit that her story is a parable and to apply it to the king. 2 Samuel 14:14 is difficult; the first part, no doubt, means, Life is uncertain, either the king or his son may die at any time; then it will be too late for

TEKOAH. On the edge of the hill country of Judah, south-east of Beth-lehem, about seven miles from Jerusalem (compare Jeremiah 6:1). Abounding in caverns. The abode of Amos....

_Tekoah_ Situated on a lofty hill five miles south of Bethlehem. The name survives almost unaltered in the modern _Tekûa_. It was the native place of Ira, one of David's Thirty Heroes (ch. 2 Samuel 23:26): Rehoboam fortified it as a defence against invasions from the south (2 Chronicles 11:6): but its chief claim to be remembered is as the home of the prophet Amos who was "among the herdmen of Tekoa" (Amos 1:1). The proximity of Tekoah to Bethlehem explains Joab's acquaintance with this woman, whose shrewdness fitted her to act the part he wished. The term "wise woman" does not mean a witch, as the Speaker's Comm. implies when it speaks of her "lawless profession." Cp. ch....