2 Samuel 14:21-33

14:21 Then the king said to Joab, “All right! I ¹  will do this thing! Go and bring back the young man Absalom! 14:22 Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked ²  the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your ³  servant!”

14:23 So Joab got up and went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. ⁴  14:24 But the king said, “Let him go over ⁵  to his own house. He may not see my face.” So Absalom went over ⁶  to his own house; he did not see the king’s face.

14:25 Now in all Israel everyone acknowledged that there was no man as handsome as Absalom. ⁷  From the sole of his feet to the top of his head he was perfect in appearance. ⁸  14:26 When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long ⁹  and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds ¹⁰  according to the king’s weight. 14:27 Absalom had ¹¹  three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a very attractive woman. ¹² 

14:28 Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without seeing the king’s face. 14:29 Then Absalom sent a message to Joab asking him to send him to the king, but Joab was not willing to come to him. So he sent a second message to him, but he still was not willing to come. 14:30 So he said to his servants, “Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire.” ¹³  So Absalom’s servants set Joab’s ¹⁴  portion of the field on fire.

14:31 Then Joab got up and came to Absalom’s house. He said to him, “Why did your servants set my portion of field on fire?” 14:32 Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent a message to you saying, ‘Come here so that I can send you to the king with this message: ¹⁵  “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.”’ Let me now see the face of the king. If I am at fault, let him put me to death!”

14:33 So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king ¹⁶  summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom ¹⁷  bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. ¹⁸ 

[14:21]  ¹ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss have “you” rather than “I.”

[14:22]  ² tn Heb “blessed.”

[14:22]  ³ tc The present translation reads with the Qere “your” rather than the MT “his.”

[14:23]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “turn aside.”

[14:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[14:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “Like Absalom there was not a handsome man in all Israel to boast exceedingly.”

[14:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “there was not in him a blemish.”

[14:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “for it was heavy upon him.”

[14:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “two hundred shekels.” The modern equivalent would be about three pounds (1.4 kg).

[14:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and there were born.”

[14:27]  ¹² tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And she became a wife to Rehoboam the son of Solomon and bore to him Abia.”

[14:30]  ¹³ tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And the servants of Absalom burned them up. And the servants of Joab came to him, rending their garments. They said….”

[14:30]  ¹⁴ tn The word “Joab’s” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:32]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “saying.”

[14:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.

[14:33]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:33]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.