MPV Commentary

Joab Instructs a Woman of Tekoah.

Joab sent to Tekoah and brought back a wise woman. The king was deeply attached to Absalom, who had been absent for three long years. However, David's desire to see his son again was hindered by his concern about public opinion and the welfare of the kingdom. Joab, perceiving the king's struggle between parental affection and royal duty, devised a plan to alleviate David's scruples while also satisfying his wishes.

Joab procured a woman from Tekoah, a town located twelve miles south of Jerusalem, to seek an audience with the king. Her mission was to persuade David that he should pardon Absalom by appealing to his sense of justice in a hypothetical case involving her own family. The woman's speech was a parable, carefully crafted to resemble the circumstances surrounding Absalom's situation without revealing too much.

The woman's words were designed to convince David that pardoning Absalom would be no different from granting mercy to any other citizen. She argued that if she could persuade the king to pardon her own son for killing his brother in a fit of rage, then he should also show similar compassion to Absalom, who had committed a similar crime.

The woman's speech was effective, and David became convinced that pardoning Absalom would be justified. He realized that Joab had orchestrated this plan to help him make a decision about his son's fate. Secretly pleased with the outcome, David commissioned Joab to bring Absalom back from exile in Geshur.

7. They shall quench my coal which is left - The life of man is compared to a light source. To extinguish the light of Israel (2 Samuel 21:17) means to destroy the king's life; to ordain a lamp for someone (Psalm 132:17) signifies granting them posterity. In this context, quenching a coal refers to the extinction of the woman's last hope that her husband's name and family would be preserved.

9. The woman said... O king, the iniquity be on me - This means that the iniquity of withholding justice and pardoning a murderer, who was bound by law to be killed unless in a city of refuge, should fall on her. This was an excessive exercise of royal power, acting as if the king were an absolute monarch.

13-17. Why then have you thought such a thing against the people of God - Her argument can be summarized as follows: You have granted me pardon for my son who killed his brother in a fit of rage, yet you refuse to grant Absalom restoration, whose crime is not greater than mine. Absalom has reason to complain that he is treated more harshly by his own father than any ordinary subject would be. The entire nation will see this as evidence that the king shows more concern for a humble woman's petition than for the desires of an entire kingdom.

The death of my son is a private loss, while the preservation of Absalom is the common interest of all Israel, who now look to him as your successor on the throne.