14 For death comes to us all, and we are like water drained out on the earth, which it is not possible to take up again; and God will not take away the life of the man whose purpose is that he who has been sent away may not be completely cut off from him.
Because he had been ordered to keep inside the safe town till the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the taker of life may come back to the place of his heritage.
And let the people keep the man responsible for the death safe from the hands of him who has the right of punishment for blood, and send him back to his safe town where he had gone in flight: there let him be till the death of the high priest who was marked with the holy oil.
And because by God's law death comes to men once, and after that they are judged;
All flesh would come to an end together, and man would go back to the dust.
Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose. All go to one place, all are of the dust, and all will be turned to dust again.
And if you give the name of Father to him who, judging every man by his acts, has no respect for a man's position, then go in fear while you are on this earth:
Then Peter said, Truly, I see clearly that God is no respecter of persons:
And they sent to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we see that you are true, and that you are teaching the true way of God, and have no fear of anyone, because you have no respect for a man's position.
This is the word of the Lord: Where is the statement which I gave your mother when I put her away? or to which of my creditors have I given you for money? It was for your sins that you were given into the hands of others, and for your evil-doing was your mother put away. Why, then, when I came, was there no man? and no one to give answer to my voice? has my hand become feeble, so that it is unable to take up your cause? or have I no power to make you free? See, at my word the sea becomes dry, I make the rivers a waste land: their fish are dead for need of water, and make an evil smell.
The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them.
But if he had no evil purpose against him, and God gave him into his hand, I will give you a place to which he may go in flight.
You send man back to his dust; and say, Go back, you children of men.
Their blood has been flowing like water round about Jerusalem; there was no one to put them in their last resting-place.
I am flowing away like water, and all my bones are out of place: my heart is like wax, it has become soft in my body.
Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.
For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end. Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust; Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant. But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he? The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry; So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep.
Then David said to the man, Go and say to Joab, Do not let this be a grief to you; for one man may come to his death by the sword like another: put up an even stronger fight against the town, and take it: and do you put heart into him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Samuel 14
Commentary on 2 Samuel 14 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 14
How Absalom threw himself out of his royal father's protection and favour we read in the foregoing chapter, which left him an exile, outlawed, and proscribed; in this chapter we have the arts that were used to bring him and his father together again, and how, at last, it was done, which is here recorded to show the folly of David in sparing him and indulging him in his wickedness, for which he was soon after severely corrected by his unnatural rebellion.
2Sa 14:1-20
Here is,
2Sa 14:21-27
Observe here,
2Sa 14:28-33
Three years Absalom had been an exile from his father-in-law, and now two years a prisoner at large in his own house, and, in both, better dealt with than he deserved; yet his spirit was still unhumbled, his pride unmortified, and, instead of being thankful that his life is spared, he thinks himself sorely wronged that he is not restored to all his places at court. Had he truly repented of his sin, his distance from the gaieties of the court, and his solitude and retirement in his own house, especially being in Jerusalem the holy city, would have been very agreeable to him. If a murderer must live, yet let him be for ever a recluse. But Absalom could not bear this just and gentle mortification. He longed to see the king's face, pretending it was because he loved him, but really because he wanted an opportunity to supplant him. He cannot do his father a mischief till he is reconciled to him; this therefore is the first branch of his plot; this snake cannot sting again till he be warmed in his father's bosom. He gained this point, not by pretended submissions and promises of reformation, but (would you think it?) by insults and injuries.