2 Samuel 14:13
New International Version
The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son?

New Living Translation
She replied, “Why don’t you do as much for the people of God as you have promised to do for me? You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you have refused to bring home your own banished son.

English Standard Version
And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again.

Berean Standard Bible
The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son?

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
So the woman said: “Why then have you schemed such a thing against the people of God? For the king speaks this thing as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring his banished one home again.

New American Standard Bible
The woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is like one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.

NASB 1995
The woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.

NASB 1977
And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the woman said, “Why then have you thought up such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.

Amplified Bible
The woman said, “Now why have you planned such a thing against God’s people? For in speaking this word the king is like a guilty man, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.

Christian Standard Bible
The woman asked, “Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The woman asked, “Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one.

American Standard Version
And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one that is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
The woman said to him: “Why have you thought this against the people of God, and why? have you spoken, oh King like a guilty one, and you do not bring back your lost one, oh King?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the woman said, Why hast thou devised this thing against the people of God? or is this word out of the king's mouth as a transgression, so that the king should not bring back his banished?

Contemporary English Version
The woman said: Haven't you been hurting God's people? Your own son had to leave the country. And when you judged in my favor, it was the same as admitting that you should have let him come back.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the woman said: Why hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God, and why hath the king spoken this word, to sin, and not bring home again his own exile?

English Revised Version
And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one which is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Why have you devised something like this against God's people?" she said. "When you say this, you condemn yourself because you haven't brought back the one you banished!

Good News Translation
She said to him, "Why have you done such a wrong to God's people? You have not allowed your own son to return from exile, and so you have condemned yourself by what you have just said.

International Standard Version
"Why, then," the woman asked, "are you planning to act just like this against God's people? Based on what your majesty has said, you're acting like one who is guilty himself, because you're not bringing back the one whom you've banished!

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the woman said: 'Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one that is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one.

Literal Standard Version
And the woman says, “And why have you thought thus concerning the people of God? Indeed, the king is speaking this thing as a guilty one, in that the king has not brought back his outcast;

Majority Standard Bible
The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son?

New American Bible
So the woman said: “Why, then, do you think the way you do against the people of God? In pronouncing as he has, the king shows himself guilty, in not bringing back his own banished son.

NET Bible
The woman said, "Why have you devised something like this against God's people? When the king speaks in this fashion, he makes himself guilty, for the king has not brought back the one he has banished.

New Revised Standard Version
The woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again.

New Heart English Bible
The woman said, "Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the woman said, Why then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one who is faulty, in that the king doth not bring home again his banished.

World English Bible
The woman said, “Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one.

Young's Literal Translation
And the woman saith, 'And why hast thou thought thus concerning the people of God? yea, the king is speaking this thing as a guilty one, in that the king hath not brought back his outcast;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Absalom's Return to Jerusalem
12Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied. 13The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son? 14For surely we will die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.…

Cross References
2 Samuel 12:7
Then Nathan said to David, "You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

2 Samuel 13:37
Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But David mourned for his son every day.

2 Samuel 13:38
After Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, he stayed there three years.

2 Samuel 14:12
Then the woman said, "Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?" "Speak," he replied.

1 Kings 20:40
But while your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared." And the king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you have pronounced it on yourself."


Treasury of Scripture

And the woman said, Why then have you thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king does speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king does not fetch home again his banished.

Wherefore

2 Samuel 12:7
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

1 Kings 20:40-42
And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it

Luke 7:42-44
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? …

people

2 Samuel 7:8
Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:

Judges 20:2
And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.

in that the king

2 Samuel 13:37,38
But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day…

Jump to Previous
Banished Convicts Decision Devised Faulty Fetch Guilty Home Inasmuch Speak Speaking Thought Wherefore Word
Jump to Next
Banished Convicts Decision Devised Faulty Fetch Guilty Home Inasmuch Speak Speaking Thought Wherefore Word
2 Samuel 14
1. Joab, suborning a widow of Tekoah to incline the king's heart to fetch Absalom,
21. brings him home to Jerusalem
25. Absalom's beauty, hair, and children
28. After two years, Absalom is brought into the king's presence by Joab














(13) Against the people of God.--This phrase, according to constant usage, can only mean Israel. The woman finds that the time has come when she must show the king that he stands condemned for his conduct towards Absalom by his own decision. She does this cautiously, and her language is therefore somewhat obscure; she rather hints at than plainly expresses what she wants to say. Her first point is that the king is in some way wronging the people, and then that he does this in opposition to the spirit of the decision he has just given, by leaving Absalom (whom she does not name) in banishment.

The king doth speak . . .--A more literal translation would be, from the king's speaking this word he is as one guilty.

Verse 13. - Against the people of God. Very skilfully, and so as for the meaning only gradually to unfold itself to the king, she represents the people of Israel as the widowed mother, who has lost one son; and David as the stern clan folk who will deprive her of a second though guilty child. But now he is bound by the solemn oath he has taken to her to remit the penalty; for literally the words are, and by the king's speaking this word he is as one guilty, unless he fetch home again his banished one. She claims to have spoken in the name of all Israel, and very probably she really did express their feelings, as Absalom was very popular, and the people saw in Tamar's wrong a sufficient reason for, and vindication of, his crime.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The woman
הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה (hā·’iš·šāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

asked,
וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ (wat·tō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Why
וְלָ֧מָּה (wə·lām·māh)
Conjunctive waw | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

have you devised
חָשַׁ֛בְתָּה (ḥā·šaḇ·tāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 2803: To think, account

a thing like this
כָּזֹ֖את (kā·zōṯ)
Preposition-k | Pronoun - feminine singular
Strong's 2063: Hereby in it, likewise, the one other, same, she, so much, such deed, that,

against
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the people
עַ֣ם (‘am)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

of God?
אֱלֹהִ֑ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

When the king
הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ (ham·me·leḵ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

says
וּמִדַּבֵּ֨ר (ū·mid·dab·bêr)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

this,
הַזֶּה֙ (haz·zeh)
Article | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

does he not convict himself,
כְּאָשֵׁ֔ם (kə·’ā·šêm)
Preposition-k | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 818: Guilty, presenting a, sin-offering

since [he]
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ (ham·me·leḵ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

has not
לְבִלְתִּ֛י (lə·ḇil·tî)
Preposition-l
Strong's 1115: A failure of, not, except, without, unless, besides, because not, until

brought back
הָשִׁ֥יב (hā·šîḇ)
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

his own banished [son]?
נִדְּחֽוֹ׃ (nid·də·ḥōw)
Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5080: To impel, thrust, banish


Links
2 Samuel 14:13 NIV
2 Samuel 14:13 NLT
2 Samuel 14:13 ESV
2 Samuel 14:13 NASB
2 Samuel 14:13 KJV

2 Samuel 14:13 BibleApps.com
2 Samuel 14:13 Biblia Paralela
2 Samuel 14:13 Chinese Bible
2 Samuel 14:13 French Bible
2 Samuel 14:13 Catholic Bible

OT History: 2 Samuel 14:13 The woman said Why then have you (2Sa iiSam 2 Sam ii sam)
2 Samuel 14:12
Top of Page
Top of Page