14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; and God has not taken away his life, but devises means that the banished one be not expelled from him.
for the manslayer should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high-priest; but after the death of the high-priest he may return into the land of his possession.
and the assembly shall rescue the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he had fled; and he shall abide in it until the death of the high-priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
And forasmuch as it is the portion of men once to die, and after this judgment;
All flesh would expire together, and man would return to the dust.
For what befalleth the children of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other, and they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place: all are of the dust, and all return to dust.
And if ye invoke as Father him who, without regard of persons, judges according to the work of each, pass your time of sojourn in fear,
And Peter opening his mouth said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,
And they send out to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that thou art true and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any one, for thou regardest not men's person;
Thus saith Jehovah: Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, through your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. Wherefore did I come, and there was no man? I called, and there was none to answer? Is my hand at all shortened that I cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make rivers a wilderness; their fish stink because there is no water, and die for thirst.
For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.
But if he have not lain in wait, and God have delivered [him] into his hand, I will appoint thee a place to which he shall flee.
Thou makest [mortal] man to return to dust, and sayest, Return, children of men.
Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury [them].
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is become like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
[How then to him] that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich man more than the poor? for they are all the work of his hands.
For there is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease; Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stock die in the ground, Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a young plant. But a man dieth, and is prostrate; yea, man expireth, and where is he? The waters recede from the lake, and the river wasteth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not again; till the heavens be no more, they do not awake, nor are raised out of their sleep.
Then David said to the messenger, Thus shalt thou say to Joab: Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devours one as well as another: make thy battle strong against the city, and overthrow it; -- and encourage 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.