2 Samuel 14:28-33

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.” ¹  So Absalom’s servants set Joab’s ²  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: ³  “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 ⁴  summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom ⁵  bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. ⁶ 

[14:30]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The word “Joab’s” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:32]  ³ tn Heb “saying.”

[14:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.

[14:33]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:33]  ⁶ tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.