2 Samuel 14:4-11 Expense of Justice!

 ”And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and prostrated herself, and said, “Help, O king!” Then the king said to her, “What troubles you?” And she answered, “Indeed I am a widow, my husband is dead. Now your maidservant had two sons; and the two fought with each other in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other and killed him. And now the whole family has risen up against your maidservant, and they said, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also.’ So they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the earth.” Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My Lord, O king, let the iniquity be on me and on my father’s house, and the king and his throne be guiltless.” So the king said, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you anymore.” Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, and do not permit the avenger of blood to destroy anymore, lest they destroy my son.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”“ II Samuel‬ ‭14‬:‭4‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Help, O king: In ancient Israel, those who felt that their local judges didn’t treat them fairly had access to the court of the king himself.

b. Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him for the life of his brother whom he killed: The woman of Tekoa referred to the custom of the avenger of blood. The avenger of bloodhad the responsibility of avenging the death of a member of the family.

i. The cities of refuge mentioned in Numbers 35:9-34 were meant to protect someone guilty of manslaughter from being killed by an avenger of blood before the case could be heard properly.

c. As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground: This was what the woman – and Joab behind her – waited to hear. In saying this, David ignored the cause of justice for the sake of family sympathy and loyalty. In personal relationships, it is a good and glorious thing to be generous with forgiveness and mercy when we are wronged. But David had a responsibility as the king and chief judge of Israel, and when he was sorely tempted to neglect that responsibility, he did neglect it.

i. “He guaranteed safety at the expense of justice, and immediately the farsighted woman captured him in her trap.” (Redpath)

ii. Several factors made this woman’s appeal successful.

· She was a widow, which would invite sympathy.

· She lived at some distance from Jerusalem, which made it difficult to easily know or inquire into the facts of her case.

· She was old, which gave more dignity to her story.

· She wore the clothes of mourning to heighten the effect.

· She brought a case of family estrangement to David.

· She brought a case that was not too similar, lest it arouse David’s suspicions. (Guzik)

Expense of Justice!

King David was the chief judge and he was to administer justice but as Redpath commented, “immediately the farsighted woman captured him in her trap.”

This trap at the expense of justice would almost cost king David his kingdom!

Would David have been wise to inquire of the Lord before giving a response?

Blessings