2 Samuel 14:2

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. 2 Samuel 20:16.

feign thyself to be a mourner Compare the similar -acted parable" in 1 Kings 20:35-43.

anoint not thyself Cp. ch. 2 Samuel 12:20, note.