2 Samuel 13:25
ESV
But the king said to Absalom, "No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you." He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing.
NIV
"No, my son," the king replied. "All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you." Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but gave him his blessing.
NASB
But the king said to Absalom, 'No, my son, we should not all go, so that we will not be a burden to you.' Though he urged him, he would not go; but he blessed him.
CSB
The king replied to Absalom, "No, my son, we should not all go, or we would be a burden to you." Although Absalom urged him, he wasn’t willing to go, though he did bless him.
NLT
The king replied, 'No, my son. If we all came, we would be too much of a burden on you.' Absalom pressed him, but the king would not come, though he gave Absalom his blessing.
KJV
And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. And he pressed him: howbeit he would not go, but blessed him.
NKJV
But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go now, lest we be a burden to you.” Then he urged him, but he would not go; and he blessed him.
What does 2 Samuel 13:25 mean?
Absalom is throwing a feast in the hill country of Ephraim, not far from Bethel. He asks David to come. David declines. By the time they had counted David's bodyguards, servants, courtiers, and possibly wives and sons, Absalom couldn't afford to feed them all. The king, though, does give his blessing for Absalom to hold the feast (2 Samuel 13:23–24).David doesn't realize that Absalom doesn't really care if David comes, nor his servants and courtiers. In fact, he probably asks knowing David will say no. Absalom only needs one person to show up: Amnon. So, when David asks, Absalom asks for Amnon directly. On the surface, Amnon the firstborn is the appropriate alternative for the king. But David should have suspected that Absalom has ulterior motives. Amnon raped Absalom's sister two years before (2 Samuel 13:14). Absalom hasn't even spoken about Amnon since then.
David questions Absalom why he wants Amnon there (2 Samuel 13:26), perhaps starting to see the danger. Absalom pulls back and asks for all his brothers to come (2 Samuel 13:27). By the end of David's life, he'll have had nineteen sons by his wives and countless others by his concubines. It's possible David simply missed the threat that the situation presented. Or, David thinks Amnon will be safer in a crowd. He lets them go.
Absalom plots to kill Amnon and succeeds. As his brothers flee back to Jerusalem and their grieving father, Absalom runs across the Jordan River to his maternal grandfather, the king of Geshur. He doesn't know that God specifically allowed him to murder his brother as punishment against David for his own sin against Bathsheba and Uriah. From this point on, "the sword shall never depart" from David's house (2 Samuel 12:10).
