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Nach YomiII Samuel · שמואל ב׳Chapter 14

II Samuel 14

שמואל ב׳ פרק י״ד

Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: II Samuel | Chapter: 14 of 24 | Day: 90 of 742

Date: May 12, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

The fourteenth chapter of II Samuel orchestrates the staged return of Absalom from Geshur, and at its literary core stands a structural echo of Nathan’s parable from chapter 12. Just as the prophet had ambushed David’s moral judgment with the tale of the poor man’s lamb, Joab now constructs an even more elaborate ruse: a wise woman from Tekoa (אשה חכמה), draped in mourning, presenting a fictional capital case so that David will pronounce a ruling that he can then be turned to apply against himself. Radak and Rashi alike emphasize that Joab read the king’s heart (וידע יואב כי לב המלך על אבשלום) and dared not raise the matter directly, choosing instead the indirect path of parable. The chapter thus opens by signaling that David’s court has become a place where truth must be smuggled in through fiction, where the king is too compromised by his own grief and guilt to be addressed plainly.

Joab’s motives are rarely articulated by the text itself, but the classical commentators read them shrewdly. With Amnon dead and the tribal heir Chileab nowhere in view, Absalom is now the most prominent surviving son of David — strikingly handsome, politically charismatic, and the grandson of a foreign king through his mother Maacah of Geshur. Joab, the consummate political operator, sees that the dynasty’s stability requires the eventual heir to be present, not exiled. The wise woman’s parable (vv. 5-7) is finely tuned to David’s vulnerabilities: a widow’s lone surviving son, condemned to die at the hands of the kinsmen-redeemers, the family’s last ember (גחלתי אשר נשארה) about to be extinguished. Each detail of the fiction maps onto David’s own situation — a father with one son slain by another, the surviving son threatened with death, the dynastic line at stake.

The legal-philosophical exchange that follows is the chapter’s intellectual center. The woman secures from David a binding oath against the avenger of blood (גואל הדם) — Rashi connects this to the Torah’s concern in Deuteronomy 19 that the ways to the cities of refuge be kept open lest the avenger overtake the unintentional killer — and only then springs the trap: “Why have you planned the like against the people of God?” (v. 13). The trap exposes a double standard: David has just sworn to protect a fictional fratricide who lacked witnesses and warning, yet he has banished his own son under those same evidentiary conditions. Verse 14, the woman’s most theologically dense pronouncement — “we are like water poured out on the ground” — invokes universal mortality and divine compassion to argue that the king must devise stratagems (וחשב מחשבות) so that no one remain banished (לבלתי ידח ממנו נדח). Metzudat David and Radak both read this as appealing to the divine attribute of seeking the return of the wayward, the very pattern God Himself models with sinners.

Yet David, having been moved to act, halts halfway. Absalom is brought from Geshur to Jerusalem, but the king decrees: “Let him turn aside to his own house; he shall not see my face” (v. 24). This partial pardon — neither full reconciliation nor full exile — is the chapter’s tragic hinge. For two years Absalom dwells in Jerusalem in a kind of quarantine of grace, close enough to inflame his ambitions but not close enough to bind him in filial duty. The chapter then pauses to describe Absalom’s physical perfection (v. 25): no man in Israel was so admired for beauty (להלל מאד), without blemish from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, his hair so heavy he had to cut it annually at two hundred shekels by the royal weight. Radak reads this descriptive interlude as the narrator’s diagnosis of what will go wrong: Absalom’s beauty bred his vanity, and his vanity bred the conviction that no son of David was more fit to rule than himself. Chazal’s tradition that he was a Nazirite makes the irony sharper still — the very hair that signaled consecration becomes the instrument of his vanity and ultimately his death.

The chapter ends with the famous burning of Joab’s barley field. When Joab refuses two summonses, Absalom orders his servants to set Joab’s adjacent field ablaze. This brutal piece of theater accomplishes its goal — Joab finally intervenes, and David receives Absalom with a kiss — but the gesture reveals everything that has gone wrong with this reconciliation. Absalom has learned that he can secure what he wants through coercion and destruction. The man who orchestrated his return has been treated to a foretaste of how Absalom treats those who help him; the kinsman who acted as Nathan-by-proxy in chapter 14 will be repaid in chapter 18 only by killing Absalom against David’s orders. The chapter’s deepest tragedy lies in its logic of half-measures: David could not bear to permanently banish his son, but he also could not bring himself to fully forgive. The two years “in his own house but not seeing the king’s face” hardened Absalom’s grievance into rebellion. The kiss of verse 33 ends the chapter on the surface of reconciliation, but the next chapter will reveal that beneath the kiss the revolt was already underway.

פרק י״ד · Chapter 14

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וַיֵּ֖דַע יוֹאָ֣ב בֶּן־צְרֻיָ֑ה כִּי־לֵ֥ב הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ עַל־אַבְשָׁלֽוֹם׃

English:

Joab son of Zeruiah could see that the king’s mind was on Absalom;

Joab perceives that David's heart yearns for Absalom yet the king cannot bring himself to summon him back. Metzudat David and Radak both note that Joab read this from David's mood and bearing, dared not raise the matter directly, and resolved to approach it through indirection — a strategy that will require an entire fictional apparatus.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח יוֹאָב֙ תְּק֔וֹעָה וַיִּקַּ֥ח מִשָּׁ֖ם אִשָּׁ֣ה חֲכָמָ֑ה וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵ֠לֶ֠יהָ הִֽתְאַבְּלִי־נָ֞א וְלִבְשִׁי־נָ֣א בִגְדֵי־אֵ֗בֶל וְאַל־תָּס֙וּכִי֙ שֶׁ֔מֶן וְהָיִ֕ית כְּאִשָּׁ֗ה זֶ֚ה יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֔ים מִתְאַבֶּ֖לֶת עַל־מֵֽת׃

English:

so Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a woman who was wise.awise I.e., in this context, quick-witted and resourceful. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning; put on mourning clothes and don’t anoint yourself with oil; and act like a woman who has grieved a long time over a departed one.

Joab fetches a wise woman from Tekoa and stages her as a long-grieving mourner. Rashi and Radak transmit the rabbinic tradition (Menachot 85a) that Tekoa was renowned for olive oil and therefore for wisdom; the cosmetic detail of refusing to anoint with oil reinforces a credible appearance of prolonged mourning calculated to elicit royal compassion.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וַיִּשְׁלַח יוֹאָב תְּקוֹעָה. אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ (מנחות פה ב): כִּי שֶׁמֶן זַיִת מָצוּי שָׁם, לְכָךְ חָכְמָה מְצוּיָה שָׁם:
Yoav sent to Tekuah. Our Rabbis said Because olive oil is found there, therefore wisdom is found there.1Menochos 85a.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וּבָאת֙ אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְדִבַּ֥רְתְּ אֵלָ֖יו כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַיָּ֧שֶׂם יוֹאָ֛ב אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים בְּפִֽיהָ׃

English:

Go to the king and say to him thus and thus.” And Joab told her what to say.btold her what to say Lit. “put words into her mouth.”

Joab feeds her the script — what Radak calls the general substance of the parable — relying on her own quick-wittedness to handle David's responses extemporaneously. The phrase 'put words in her mouth' signals that the entire performance is a constructed fiction designed to map onto David's situation with Amnon and Absalom.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וַ֠תֹּ֠אמֶר הָאִשָּׁ֤ה הַתְּקֹעִית֙ אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וַתִּפֹּ֧ל עַל־אַפֶּ֛יהָ אַ֖רְצָה וַתִּשְׁתָּ֑חוּ וַתֹּ֖אמֶר הוֹשִׁ֥עָה הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ {ס}        

English:

The Tekoite woman cameccame So many mss. and printed editions. Most mss. and printed editions read “said.” to the king, flung herself face down to the ground, and prostrated herself. She cried out, “Help, O king!”

She enters the throne room and falls on her face crying 'Help, O king!' — the conventional cry of one seeking royal justice. Radak preserves a tradition that her appeal at the gate was initially blocked, lending realism to her later complaint that 'the people frightened me.'

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וַיֹּֽאמֶר־לָ֥הּ הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מַה־לָּ֑ךְ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר אֲבָ֛ל אִשָּֽׁה־אַלְמָנָ֥ה אָ֖נִי וַיָּ֥מׇת אִישִֽׁי׃

English:

The king asked her, “What troubles you?” And she answered, “Alas, I am a widow, my husband is dead.

She presents herself as a widow whose loss is fresh — Rashi glosses אבל as 'in truth.' Radak observes that her seemingly redundant 'and my husband died' is calculated: should her surviving son be killed, the day his death is announced will feel like the day she lost her husband all over again.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אֲבָל אִשָּׁה אַלְמָנָה אָנִי. אֲבָל, ״בְּקוּשְׁטָא״:
In truth, I am a widowed woman.אֲבָל means "In truth."

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וּלְשִׁפְחָֽתְךָ֙ שְׁנֵ֣י בָנִ֔ים וַיִּנָּצ֤וּ שְׁנֵיהֶם֙ בַּשָּׂדֶ֔ה וְאֵ֥ין מַצִּ֖יל בֵּינֵיהֶ֑ם וַיַּכּ֧וֹ הָאֶחָ֛ד אֶת־הָאֶחָ֖ד וַיָּ֥מֶת אֹתֽוֹ׃

English:

Your maidservant had two sons. The two of them came to blows out in the fields where there was no one to stop them, and one of them struck the other and killed him.

The fictional case is constructed to mirror Amnon and Absalom: two brothers in an open field, no third party to intervene, one strikes the other dead. Metzudat David explains 'no one to save' as the absence of an outsider who could stop the blow — and crucially, with no witnesses or formal warning, the case lies outside the strict jurisdiction of the court.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

וְהִנֵּה֩ קָ֨מָה כׇֽל־הַמִּשְׁפָּחָ֜ה עַל־שִׁפְחָתֶ֗ךָ וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ תְּנִ֣י ׀ אֶת־מַכֵּ֣ה אָחִ֗יו וּנְמִתֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּנֶ֤פֶשׁ אָחִיו֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָרָ֔ג וְנַשְׁמִ֖ידָה גַּ֣ם אֶת־הַיּוֹרֵ֑שׁ וְכִבּ֗וּ אֶת־גַּֽחַלְתִּי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִשְׁאָ֔רָה לְבִלְתִּ֧י (שום) [שִׂים־]לְאִישִׁ֛י שֵׁ֥ם וּשְׁאֵרִ֖ית עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ {פ}

English:

Then the whole clan confronted your maidservant and said, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother, that we may put him to death for the slaying of his brother, even though we wipe out the heir.‘deven though we wipe out the heir Emendation yields “Thus they would destroy the [last] heir and…” Thus they would quench the last ember remaining to me, and leave my husband without name or remnant upon the earth.”

The whole clan demands the surviving son be handed over for blood vengeance, even though doing so will extinguish the family line. Radak sharply suggests that the kinsmen's real motive is inheritance — they want to seize her husband's estate — exposing the tension between pure justice and the avenger's mixed motives that Joab is preparing to exploit.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֧אמֶר הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ אֶל־הָאִשָּׁ֖ה לְכִ֣י לְבֵיתֵ֑ךְ וַאֲנִ֖י אֲצַוֶּ֥ה עָלָֽיִךְ׃

English:

The king said to the woman, “Go home. I will issue an order in your behalf.”

David's first response is non-committal: go home, I will issue an order on your behalf. Radak reads this as a vague promise to instruct the clan to leave the boy alone, but the woman recognizes it as the kind of royal half-measure that will not survive contact with determined avengers — and she has only begun her advocacy.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַתֹּ֜אמֶר הָאִשָּׁ֤ה הַתְּקוֹעִית֙ אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ עָלַ֞י אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ הֶעָוֺ֖ן וְעַל־בֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑י וְהַמֶּ֥לֶךְ וְכִסְא֖וֹ נָקִֽי׃ {ס}        

English:

And the Tekoite woman said to the king, “My lord king, may the guilt be on me and on my ancestral house; Your Majesty and his throne are guiltless.”

She presses for stronger commitment, asking that any blame fall on her ancestral house and not on the throne. Rashi reads this euphemistically as her veiled rebuke: if the king dismisses me with a vague order while my son gets killed, on whose head is that sin? She invites David to bind himself more firmly.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
עָלַי אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ הֶעָוֹן. כִּנּוּי הוּא לִכְבוֹדוֹ, כְּלוֹמַר אַתָּה מַדְחֶה אוֹתִי לֵאמֹר אֲנִי מְצַוֶּה עָלֶיךָ וַאֲנִי אֵלֵךְ לְדַרְכִּי, וְאַתָּה לֹא תְצַוֶּה עָלַי, וּבְנִי יֵהָרֵג, עַל מִי הֶעָוֹן הַזֶּה:
My master the king, the sin is upon me. This is euphemistic for [the sake of] his honour in other words, "You are rebutting me [by] saying, 'I will command [someone] concerning you,' I will [then] go on my way and you will not command [anyone] concerning me, and my son will get murdered. Upon who is this sin?"

פסוק י״ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ הַֽמְדַבֵּ֤ר אֵלַ֙יִךְ֙ וַהֲבֵאת֣וֹ א��לַ֔י וְלֹא־יֹסִ֥יף ע֖וֹד לָגַ֥עַת בָּֽךְ׃

English:

The king said, “If anyone says anything more to you, have him brought to me, and he will never trouble you again.”

David escalates: anyone who threatens her further is to be brought before him personally. Radak observes the grammatical irregularity — והבאתו addresses a male attendant who would assist the woman in summoning the troublemaker — but the legal substance is that David is now committing royal protection, not just royal sympathy.

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וַתֹּ֩אמֶר֩ יִזְכׇּר־נָ֨א הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ (מהרבית) [מֵהַרְבַּ֞ת] גֹּאֵ֤ל הַדָּם֙ לְשַׁחֵ֔ת וְלֹ֥א יַשְׁמִ֖ידוּ אֶת־בְּנִ֑י וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ חַי־יְהֹוָ֔ה אִם־יִפֹּ֛ל מִשַּׂעֲרַ֥ת בְּנֵ֖ךְ אָֽרְצָה׃

English:

She replied, “Let Your Majesty be mindful of the ETERNAL your God and restrain the blood avenger bent on destruction, so that my son may not be killed.” And he said, “As GOD lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

She demands the strongest possible commitment: a binding oath in God's name restraining the avenger of blood. Rashi connects this to the Torah's concern in Deuteronomy 19 that the avenger's pursuit be limited; her phrase מהרבת גואל הדם invokes the legislative impulse to constrain blood vengeance. David swears: not a hair shall fall — the airtight oath Joab needed.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
יִזְכָּר נָא הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת ה׳. שֶׁהִקְפִּיד עַל אֹרֶךְ הַדֶּרֶךְ לְהַצִּיל נְפָשׁוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יט:ו): ״וְהִשִּׂיגוֹ כִּי יִרְבֶּה הַדֶּרֶךְ״, וְזֶהוּ מֵהַרְבּוֹת גֹּאֵל הַדָּם לְשַׁחֵת, וְאַתָּה דוֹחֶה אוֹתִי:
Please remember Adonoy. God was stringent concerning the distance [necessary] to save lives2When a person kills accidently, he must go to a city of refuge. These cities should never be too distant from any potential fugitive who may need to go there. as it is said, "He will overtake him because the way was long".3Devorim 19:5. This is [her reference with], "To avoid giving more [time] for the avenger to destroy," and you are pushing me [away].

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה תְּדַבֶּר־נָ֧א שִׁפְחָתְךָ֛ אֶל־אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ דָּבָ֑ר וַיֹּ֖אמֶר דַּבֵּֽרִי׃ {ס}        

English:

Then the woman said, “Please let your maidservant say another word to my lord the king.” “Speak on,” said the king.

Having extracted the oath, the woman now requests permission to speak further. Radak notes the careful pivot: she will now begin to hint, by gradual indirection, at the real subject — Absalom — for which all of this has been prologue.

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הָאִשָּׁ֔ה וְלָ֧מָּה חָשַׁ֛בְתָּה כָּזֹ֖את עַל־עַ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֑ים וּמִדַּבֵּ֨ר הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ הַדָּבָ֤ר הַזֶּה֙ כְּאָשֵׁ֔ם לְבִלְתִּ֛י הָשִׁ֥יב הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶֽת־נִדְּחֽוֹ׃

English:

And the woman said, “Why then have you planned the like against God’s people? In making this pronouncement, Your Majesty condemns himself in that Your Majesty does not bring back his own banished one.

The trap snaps shut: 'Why then have you planned the like against the people of God?' Rashi unpacks the indictment — David has just protected a fratricide who killed without witnesses or warning, exposing as inconsistent his own continuing exile of Absalom, who killed Amnon under those same evidentiary conditions. The king's oath in her case has become his self-conviction in his own.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְלָמָּה חָשַׁבְתָּה כָזֹאת. שֶׁחָשַׁדְתָּ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁיָּבֹאוּ לַהֲרוֹג אֶת הַשֵּׁנִי בְּלֹא עֵדִים וְהַתְרָאָה: וּמִדַּבֵּר הַמֶּלֶךְ הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה כְּאָשֵׁם. וְהַדָּבָר הַזֶּה שֶׁחָרַצְתָּ לַאֲחֵרִים, שֶׁאָמַרְתָּ לִי לֹא יִפּוֹל מִשַּׂעֲרַת בְּנֵךְ אַרְצָה, עַכְשָׁיו שֶׁאֲגַלֶּה לְךָ שֶׁאֵין הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה אֶלָּא עַל שְׁנֵי בָּנֶיךָ, אַל תִּתְחָרֵט לֵאמֹר דִּבַּרְתִּי זֶה כְּאָשֵׁם, וְהִנְנִי חוֹזֵר בִּי, לְבִלְתִּי הָשִׁיב הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּנוֹ שֶׁנִּדְחָה מִמֶּנּוּ וּבָרַח לוֹ: וּמִדַּבֵּר הַמֶּלֶךְ. אוקינו״ן פרלטי״ש בלע״ז:
Why did you think this. You suspected that a Jew could come to kill another [Jew] without witnesses and a warning. That which the king said he himself is guilty of. This thing that you have decided for others, that you said to me "hair from your son shall not fall to the ground." Now that I have revealed to you that this thing never happened, but it was only [a parable] to your two sons, do not reverse yourself saying, "I said this mistakingly and I have reconsidered" in order that the king not bring back his son, Avsholom that his been exiled from him and has fled. The king will say. Aucenon parleter in O.F.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

כִּי־מ֣וֹת נָמ֔וּת וְכַמַּ֙יִם֙ הַנִּגָּרִ֣ים אַ֔רְצָה אֲשֶׁ֖ר לֹ֣א יֵאָסֵ֑פוּ וְלֹֽא־יִשָּׂ֤א אֱלֹהִים֙ נֶ֔פֶשׁ וְחָשַׁב֙ מַחֲשָׁב֔וֹת לְבִלְתִּ֛י יִדַּ֥ח מִמֶּ֖נּוּ נִדָּֽח׃

English:

We must all die; we are like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up. God will not take away the life of one who makes plans so that no one may be kept banished.eGod will not … banished Meaning of Heb. uncertain. The apparent sense is: God will not punish you for bringing back the banished Absalom.

The woman's most theologically dense verse: we all die, like water poured on the ground that cannot be gathered, but God devises stratagems so that no one remain banished. Rashi reads it as arguing that Amnon's death is itself sufficient punishment; Radak hears an appeal to imitate the divine attribute of seeking the return of the wayward — God 'thinks thoughts' to retrieve the lost, and so should the king.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כִּי מוֹת נָמוּת. וְדַיֵּינוּ בְּאוֹתוֹ עֹנֶשׁ: וְלֹא יִשָּׂא אֱלֹהִים נֶפֶשׁ. אִישׁ מִן הַמִּיתָה, לְפִיכָךְ וְחָשַׁב הַמֶּלֶךְ מַחֲשָׁבוֹת לְבִלְתִּי יִדַּח מִמֶּנּוּ נִדָּח:
We are [all] going to die. And that punishment is sufficent.4For Avsholom. God will not countenance anyone. a man from [avoiding] death. Therefore the king should devise means to avoid having his exiled one remain an outcast.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וְ֠עַתָּ֠ה אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֜אתִי לְדַבֵּ֨ר אֶל־הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ אֲדֹנִי֙ אֶת־הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה כִּ֥י יֵרְאֻ֖נִי הָעָ֑ם וַתֹּ֤אמֶר שִׁפְחָתְךָ֙ אֲדַבְּרָה־נָּ֣א אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אוּלַ֛י יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶת־דְּבַ֥ר אֲמָתֽוֹ׃

English:

And the reason I have come to say these things to the king, my lord, is that the people have frightened me. Your maidservant thought I would speak to Your Majesty; perhaps Your Majesty would act on his handmaid’s plea.

She now reframes: the parable was prompted by genuine fear (the people frightened me from approaching directly), and she had hoped the king would act on her plea. Rashi explains that כי יראוני העם means the people had warned her she would not be heard — a graceful cover that lets her pivot from fictional case to real petition without seeming presumptuous.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְעַתָּה אֲשֶׁר בָּאתִי לְדַבֵּר אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲדֹנִי אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה. בְּכִנּוּי עָלַי וְעַל בְּנִי: כִּי יֵרְאוּנִי הָעָם. הִפְחִידוּנִי מִלְּבַקֵּשׁ אֶת אֲדֹנִי עַל בְּנוֹ, פֶּן יִכְעוֹס עָלַי: וַתֹּאמֶר שִׁפְחָתְךָ אֲדַבְּרָה נָּא. כְּעִנְיָן זֶה, אוּלַי יַעֲשֶׂה וְגוֹ׳:
And now I came to speak to my master, the king these words. As a parable about myself and my son Because the people frightened me. They frightened me [away] from imploring my master concerning [the plight of] his son lest he become angry with me. Your handmaiden said, "I will speak." In this way [with a parable], perhaps he will take action etc.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

כִּ֚י יִשְׁמַ֣ע הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לְהַצִּ֥יל אֶת־אֲמָת֖וֹ מִכַּ֣ף הָאִ֑ישׁ לְהַשְׁמִ֨יד אֹתִ֤י וְאֶת־בְּנִי֙ יַ֔חַד מִֽנַּחֲלַ֖ת אֱלֹהִֽים׃

English:

For Your Majesty would surely agree to deliver his handmaid from the hands of anyone [who would seek to]fthe hands of anyone [who would seek to] Or “the man’s clutches—which would,” namely the blood avenger of v. 11. cut off both me and my son from the heritagegheritage I.e., people. of God.

She continues the cover, framing her appeal as one for deliverance from the avenger who would cut her and her son off from the inheritance of God. Metzudat David explains 'inheritance of God' as the heritage divinely allotted — the dynastic frame remains audible: she is also speaking, in the parable's logic, about the Davidic line itself.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כִּי יִשְׁמַע הַמֶּלֶךְ לְהַצִּיל אֶת אֲמָתוֹ מִכַּף הָאִישׁ. הַבָּא לַהֲרוֹג אֶת בְּנִי, וּלְהַשְׁמִידֵנוּ יַחַד מִנַּחֲלַת אֱלֹהִים:
When the king hears [and agrees] to save his handmaiden from the [avenger] man's hand. who is coming to kill my son and to remove us both from the inheritance [given by] God.5All this is what the woman was conveying in her parable. This was all designed to be tolerable for the king to hear.

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ שִׁפְחָ֣תְךָ֔ יִֽהְיֶה־נָּ֛א דְּבַר־אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ לִמְנֻחָ֑ה כִּ֣י ׀ כְּמַלְאַ֣ךְ הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים כֵּ֣ן אֲדֹנִ֤י הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ לִשְׁמֹ֙עַ֙ הַטּ֣וֹב וְהָרָ֔ע וַיהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ יְהִ֥י עִמָּֽךְ׃ {פ}

English:

Your maidservant thought, ‘Let the word of my lord the king provide comfort; for my lord the king is like an angel of God, understanding everything, good and bad.’ May the ETERNAL your God be with you.”

She concludes by flattering David as 'like an angel of God' to discern good and evil, expressing trust that his earlier word will bring rest. Rashi reads this as locking in the verdict: now that the king has decided in her case, no anger or hatred should reverse that good decision when the underlying matter (Absalom) becomes clear.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וַתֹּאמֶר שִׁפְחָתְךָ. מֵאַחַר שֶׁיְּצַוֶּה הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלַי, יִהְיֶה דְּבָרוֹ לִמְנוּחָה לִבְנִי, כִּי לֹא יָשׁוּב מִדְּבָרוֹ הַטּוֹב, כִּי כְּמַלְאַךְ ה׳ אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ, וְלֹא יַחֲזִירֶנּוּ כַּעַס וְשִׂנְאָה מִדְּבָרוֹ הַטּוֹב:
Your handmaiden says. Now that the king has ordered [remedial action] concerning me, his word should provide relief for my son because he will not back away from his kind decision6You came to the kind decision to provide relief to my make believe son in the parable. Please don't change that decision when deliberating about Avsholom who in real-life needs relief. because my master, the king is like an angel of God and anger and hatred will not change his kind decision.

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֣עַן הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ וַיֹּ֙��מֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אַל־נָ֨א תְכַחֲדִ֤י מִמֶּ֙נִּי֙ דָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָנֹכִ֖י שֹׁאֵ֣ל אֹתָ֑ךְ וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה יְדַבֶּר־נָ֖א אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

In reply, the king said to the woman, “Do not withhold from me anything I ask you!” The woman answered, “Let my lord the king speak.”

David interrupts to demand candor: do not hide from me anything I ask. The terseness of his question — and Metzudat David's gloss 'do not conceal the truth' — signals that David has now seen through the construction and wants the architect named.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ הֲיַ֥ד יוֹאָ֛ב אִתָּ֖ךְ בְּכׇל־זֹ֑את וַתַּ֣עַן הָאִשָּׁ֣ה וַתֹּ֡אמֶר חֵי־נַפְשְׁךָ֩ אֲדֹנִ֨י הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אִם־אִ֣שׁ ׀ לְהֵמִ֣ין וּלְהַשְׂמִ֗יל מִכֹּ֤ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר֙ אֲדֹנִ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ כִּֽי־עַבְדְּךָ֤ יוֹאָב֙ ה֣וּא צִוָּ֔נִי וְה֗וּא שָׂ֚ם בְּפִ֣י שִׁפְחָֽתְךָ֔ אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

English:

The king asked, “Is Joab in league with you in all this?” The woman replied, “As you live, my lord the king, it is just as my lord the king says.hit is just as my lord the king says Lit. “there is no turning to the right or to the left of what my lord the king says.” Yes, your servant Joab was the one who instructed me, and it was he who told your maidservant everything she was to say.itold your maidservant everything she was to say See note at v. 3.

David asks directly whether Joab's hand is in this. The woman swears by his life that there is no turning right or left from his word and confesses that Joab gave her the entire script. Rashi parses the unusual אם איש as 'is it possible' — a Hebrew idiom of solemn affirmation. The architect is named.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אִם אִשׁ. כְּמוֹ אִם יֵשׁ, כְּמוֹ הֲיֵשׁ, וְכֵן (מיכה ו:י): ״עוֹד הָאִשׁ בֵּית רָשָׁע״, כְּמוֹ הֲיֵשׁ:
It is impossible. [This is] like "if it is possible" or like "is it possible" So too [we find] "Is there in the house of a wicked person"7Micha 6:10. meaning "is there".8הָאִש is standing in for הֲיֵשׁ which means "is there".

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

לְבַעֲב֤וּר סַבֵּב֙ אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י הַדָּבָ֔ר עָשָׂ֛ה עַבְדְּךָ֥ יוֹאָ֖ב אֶת־הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַאדֹנִ֣י חָכָ֗ם כְּחׇכְמַת֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים לָדַ֖עַת אֶֽת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּאָֽרֶץ׃ {ס}        

English:

It was to conceal the real purpose of the matter that your servant Joab did this thing. My lord is as wise as an angel of God, and he knows all that goes on in the land.”

She explains Joab's motive: 'to turn the face of the matter,' that is, to circle around it indirectly. Rashi adds that David has now grasped the whole stratagem and recognizes Joab's hand. Her concluding flattery — that the king is wise as an angel of God to know all that is in the land — both honors and exposes him: he has indeed seen through it.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
לְבַעֲבוּר סַבֵּב. לְגַלְגֵּל, עַד שֶׁיֵּצֵא דְּבַר בְּנוֹ שֶׁל הַמֶּלֶךְ לָאוֹר: וַאדֹנִי חָכָם. וְהֵבַנְתָּ כִּי מֵאֵת יוֹאָב יָצָאתָ:
In order to skirt around. To skirt around [the issue] until the matter concerning the king's son comes to light. [But] my master is wise. and you understood that this is coming from Yoav.

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֶל־יוֹאָ֔ב הִנֵּה־נָ֥א עָשִׂ֖יתִי אֶת־הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וְלֵ֛ךְ הָשֵׁ֥ב אֶת־הַנַּ֖עַר אֶת־אַבְשָׁלֽוֹם׃

English:

Then the king said to Joab, “I will do this thing. Go and bring back my boy Absalom.”

David yields and instructs Joab to bring Absalom back. Metzudat David reads it as: you initiated this, now finish it. Radak preserves a textual variant (עשיתי / עשית) but in either reading the result is the same — the king has been led, by Joab's careful staging, to authorize the very return he could not bring himself to order on his own initiative.

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וַיִּפֹּל֩ יוֹאָ֨ב אֶל־פָּנָ֥יו אַ֛רְצָה וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֶת־הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יוֹאָ֡ב הַיּוֹם֩ יָדַ֨ע עַבְדְּךָ֜ כִּי־מָצָ֨אתִי חֵ֤ן בְּעֵינֶ֙יךָ֙ אֲדֹנִ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶת־דְּבַ֥ר (עבדו) [עַבְדֶּֽךָ]׃

English:

Joab flung himself face down on the ground and prostrated himself. Joab blessed the king and said, “Today your servant knows that he has found favor with you, my lord king, for Your Majesty has granted his servant’s request.”

Joab prostrates himself and blesses the king, declaring that today he knows he has found favor. Radak notes the keri/ketiv variation on עבדו / עבדך — Joab speaks, but the text wavers between his self-reference and the king's acknowledgment, fittingly for a moment in which the servant has just maneuvered the master.

פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23

Hebrew:

וַיָּ֥קׇם יוֹאָ֖ב וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ גְּשׁ֑וּרָה וַיָּבֵ֥א אֶת־אַבְשָׁל֖וֹם יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃ {ס}        

English:

And Joab went at once to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

פסוק כ״ד · Verse 24

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ יִסֹּ֣ב אֶל־בֵּית֔וֹ וּפָנַ֖י לֹ֣א יִרְאֶ֑ה וַיִּסֹּ֤ב אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ אֶל־בֵּית֔וֹ וּפְנֵ֥י הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ לֹ֥א רָאָֽה׃ {ס}        

English:

But the king said, “Let him go directly to his house and not present himself to me.” So Absalom went directly to his house and did not present himself to the king.

פסוק כ״ה · Verse 25

Hebrew:

וּכְאַבְשָׁל֗וֹם לֹֽא־הָיָ֧ה אִישׁ־יָפֶ֛ה בְּכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לְהַלֵּ֣ל מְאֹ֑ד מִכַּ֤ף רַגְלוֹ֙ וְעַ֣ד קׇדְקֳד֔וֹ לֹא־הָ֥יָה ב֖וֹ מֽוּם׃

English:

No other man in Israel was as admired for his beauty as Absalom; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head he was without blemish.

The narrator pauses to describe Absalom's physical perfection: no man in Israel was as admired for beauty, without blemish from sole to crown. Radak reads this descriptive interlude as the narrator's etiology of the coming rebellion — Absalom's beauty bred his pride, and his pride bred the conviction that no son of David was more fit to rule.

פסוק כ״ו · Verse 26

Hebrew:

וּֽבְגַלְּחוֹ֮ אֶת־רֹאשׁוֹ֒ וְֽ֠הָיָ֠ה מִקֵּ֨ץ יָמִ֤ים ׀ לַיָּמִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יְגַלֵּ֔חַ כִּי־כָבֵ֥ד עָלָ֖יו וְגִלְּח֑וֹ וְשָׁקַל֙ אֶת־שְׂעַ֣ר רֹאשׁ֔וֹ מָאתַ֥יִם שְׁקָלִ֖ים בְּאֶ֥בֶן הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

When he cut his hair—he had to have it cut every year, for it grew too heavy for him—the hair of his head weighed two hundred shekels by the royal weight.

His hair was so heavy that he had to cut it annually, weighing two hundred shekels by the royal stone. Radak preserves the rabbinic tradition that Absalom was a Nazirite for life — the very hair that signaled consecration to God becomes the seat of his vanity, and the halachic point is derived: a lifelong Nazirite who finds his hair too heavy may trim it once every twelve months.

פסוק כ״ז · Verse 27

Hebrew:

וַיִּוָּלְד֤וּ לְאַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ שְׁלוֹשָׁ֣ה בָנִ֔ים וּבַ֥ת אַחַ֖ת וּשְׁמָ֣הּ תָּמָ֑ר הִ֣יא הָֽיְתָ֔ה אִשָּׁ֖ה יְפַ֥ת מַרְאֶֽה׃ {פ}

English:

Absalom had three sons and a daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.

פסוק כ״ח · Verse 28

Hebrew:

וַיֵּ֧שֶׁב אַבְשָׁל֛וֹם בִּירוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם שְׁנָתַ֣יִם יָמִ֑ים וּפְנֵ֥י הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ לֹ֥א רָאָֽה׃

English:

Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without appearing before the king.

פסוק כ״ט · Verse 29

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח אַבְשָׁל֜וֹם אֶל־יוֹאָ֗ב לִשְׁלֹ֤חַ אֹתוֹ֙ אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְלֹ֥א אָבָ֖ה לָב֣וֹא אֵלָ֑יו ��ַיִּשְׁלַ֥ח עוֹד֙ שֵׁנִ֔ית וְלֹ֥א אָבָ֖ה לָבֽוֹא׃

English:

Then Absalom sent for Joab, in order to send him to the king; but Joab would not come to him. He sent for him a second time, but he would not come.

פסוק ל׳ · Verse 30

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֶל־עֲבָדָ֜יו רְאוּ֩ חֶלְקַ֨ת יוֹאָ֤ב אֶל־יָדִי֙ וְלוֹ־שָׁ֣ם שְׂעֹרִ֔ים לְכ֖וּ (והוצתיה) [וְהַצִּית֣וּהָ] בָאֵ֑שׁ וַיַּצִּ֜תוּ עַבְדֵ֧י אַבְשָׁל֛וֹם אֶת־הַחֶלְקָ֖ה בָּאֵֽשׁ׃ {פ}

English:

So [Absalom] said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

After Joab refuses two summonses, Absalom orders his servants to set Joab's adjacent barley field on fire. Rashi glosses אל ידי as 'next to my domain, in a place where I can do damage' — the act is calculated coercion, and it discloses Absalom's character: he secures cooperation through destruction, a foreshadowing of how he will treat the kingdom itself.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אֶל יָדִי. סָמוּךְ לִרְשׁוּתִי, בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁאֲנִי יָכוֹל לְהַזִּיק: אֶל יָדִי. אינמי״ש אוש״ט בלע״ז:
Which is near me. Near my domain in a place where I can inflict damage. Which is near me. En mains aussi in O.F.

פסוק ל״א · Verse 31

Hebrew:

וַיָּ֣קׇם יוֹאָ֔ב וַיָּבֹ֥א אֶל־אַבְשָׁל֖וֹם הַבָּ֑יְתָה וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו לָ֣מָּה הִצִּ֧יתוּ עֲבָדֶ֛יךָ אֶת־הַחֶלְקָ֥ה אֲשֶׁר־לִ֖י בָּאֵֽשׁ׃

English:

Joab came at once to Absalom’s house and said to him, “Why did your servants set fire to my field?”

פסוק ל״ב · Verse 32

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אַבְשָׁל֣וֹם אֶל־יוֹאָ֡ב הִנֵּ֣ה שָׁלַ֣חְתִּי אֵלֶ֣יךָ ׀ לֵאמֹ֡ר בֹּ֣א הֵ֠נָּה וְאֶשְׁלְחָה֩ אֹתְךָ֨ אֶל־הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ לֵאמֹ֗ר לָ֤מָּה בָּ֙אתִי֙ מִגְּשׁ֔וּר ט֥וֹב לִ֖י עֹ֣ד אֲנִי־שָׁ֑ם וְעַתָּ֗ה אֶרְאֶה֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְאִם־יֶשׁ־בִּ֥י עָוֺ֖ן וֶהֱמִתָֽנִי׃

English:

Absalom replied to Joab, “I sent for you to come here; I wanted to send you to the king to say [on my behalf]: ‘Why did I leave Geshur? I would be better off if I were still there. Now let me appear before the king; and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death!’”

Absalom demands either full restoration or death — let me see the king's face, and if there is iniquity in me let him kill me. Radak adds the unspoken justification Absalom carries: I did not kill Amnon for nothing, for he violated my sister Tamar with the utmost humiliation. The two years of partial pardon have hardened, not healed, the grievance.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וֶהֱמִתָנִי. וְיַהֲרֹג אוֹתִי הַמֶּלֶךְ:
[Then] kill me. The king should kill me.

פסוק ל״ג · Verse 33

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֨א יוֹאָ֣ב אֶל־הַמֶּ֘לֶךְ֮ וַיַּגֶּד־לוֹ֒ וַיִּקְרָ֤א אֶל־אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ וַיָּבֹ֣א אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וַיִּשְׁתַּ֨חוּ ל֧וֹ עַל־אַפָּ֛יו אַ֖רְצָה לִפְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַיִּשַּׁ֥ק הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ לְאַבְשָׁלֽוֹם׃ {ס}        

English:

Joab went to the king and reported to him; whereupon he summoned Absalom. He came to the king and flung himself face down to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.

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