2 Samuel 14:5
ESV
And the king said to her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead.
NIV
The king asked her, "What is troubling you?" She said, "I am a widow; my husband is dead.
NASB
And the king said to her, 'What is troubling you?' And she answered, 'Truly I am a widow, for my husband is dead.
CSB
"What’s the matter?" the king asked her. "Sadly, I am a widow; my husband died," she said.
NLT
What’s the trouble?' the king asked. 'Alas, I am a widow!' she replied. 'My husband is dead.
KJV
And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.
NKJV
Then the king said to her, “What troubles you?” And she answered, “Indeed I am a widow, my husband is dead.
What does 2 Samuel 14:5 mean?
A woman has approached David. She's wearing the clothes of mourning: possibly dust-covered sackcloth. Her state indicates she's been in mourning for a long time (2 Samuel 14:2). She begs David to save her (2 Samuel 14:4). When he asks what her trouble is, she explains that her husband is dead. More recently, one of her sons killed the other. Now her clan wants to execute her remaining son as stipulated in the Mosaic law (Numbers 35:30–31). But if he dies, her husband will have no son to inherit his land and continue his line (2 Samuel 14:6–7).The law puts David into a delicate situation. He maneuvers for time. Her request is against the literal meaning of multiple laws (Genesis 9:8). David would assume that couldn't have gotten an audience with him unless her city elders had declared her son guilty, and her clan had agreed to send someone to kill him. If David sides with her, he may alienate a community that's following the law (2 Samuel 14:8). She presses, and he finally relents. He will decree that her son is to go free (2 Samuel 14:9–11).
The woman's speech immediately alters. She confronts David about leaving his own son in exile: a kind of death. Absalom murdered Amnon, but Amnon can no more return to life than water spilled on the ground could be recovered (2 Samuel 14:12–14). After listening to her a bit more, David realizes this is the work of his military commander, Joab (2 Samuel 14:18–19).
Literally, the woman calls herself an issah almanah or a "woman widow." The word for "widow," almanah, was for women who were destitute and not remarried. Otherwise, she would be called "the wife of…" Abigail is called "the widow of Nabal" (1 Samuel 30:5), but the Hebrew term translated "widow" is ishshah, or "woman"; the translators used "widow" for clarity. The woman of Tekoa is identifying herself with one of the most vulnerable classes of people in Israel, and one whom God specifically told the Israelites to care for (Deuteronomy 26:12).
