2 Samuel 14:13
ESV
And the woman said, "Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again.
NIV
The woman said, "Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son?
NASB
The woman said, 'Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is like one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.
CSB
The woman asked, "Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one.
NLT
She replied, 'Why don’t you do as much for the people of God as you have promised to do for me? You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you have refused to bring home your own banished son.
KJV
And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.
NKJV
So the woman said: “Why then have you schemed such a thing against the people of God? For the king speaks this thing as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring his banished one home again.
What does 2 Samuel 14:13 mean?
Joab's plan to convince David to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem is reaching a climax. Joab has sent an actress to pretend to be in a situation that symbolizes David's. Like him, one of her sons murdered another. Like him, she knows the normal punishment for such a crime is death. Like him, she does not want that to happen (2 Samuel 14:1–7).This moment echoes when Nathan the prophet told David a story about a rich man taking away a poor man's sheep to use as a sacrifice (2 Samuel 12:7). Then the prophet levelled the accusation: "you are the man." This time, instead of a prophet, David finds himself confronted by a woman he believes to be a widow in need of help.
The woman's manner of speaking changes. She speaks boldly and prophetically as she reveals Joab's motivation: If it is right to pardon my son, why do you harm Israel's future by leaving your own son, the heir to the throne of the nation, in exile? In asking this, the woman is comparing David to the "avenger of blood" sent by her clan to execute her boy and leave her with no future (Numbers 35:19). Would David do the same to Israel? She implies that David convicts himself of hypocrisy if he does not pardon his own son and bring him home to Jerusalem.
When the woman was trying to convince David to forgive her "son," she offered to take the guilt of an unfulfilled law (2 Samuel 14:9). She knows she doesn't have to. God loves life and He loves to show grace. If He can pardon a murderer (2 Samuel 12:13), David can, too (2 Samuel 14:14).
