2 samuel 14:2 - Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, “Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and don’t anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead.
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What does "2 samuel 14:2" mean?
This verse sets the stage for a carefully crafted deception by Joab, David's military commander. He needs to subtly manipulate David into allowing Absalom, his son who was banished for murdering his half-brother Amnon, to return to Jerusalem. Here's a breakdown of the meaning:
"Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought a wise woman from there": Joab, a skilled strategist, knew he couldn't directly ask David to bring Absalom back. He understood David's complicated feelings about Absalom. So, he seeks out a "wise woman" from Tekoa. This implies that she is known for her ability to persuade and perhaps even use rhetoric effectively.
"Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and don’t anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead.": This is the core instruction. Joab is telling the woman to create a convincing facade of deep, prolonged grief.
"Mourning clothing": In ancient Israel, specific clothes signified mourning, often coarse and unwashed.
"Don't anoint yourself with oil": Anointing with oil was a sign of joy and well-being. Avoiding it indicated sorrow and deprivation.
"Mourned a long time for the dead": The woman must convincingly portray someone deeply and consistently affected by loss.
In essence, Joab is instructing the woman to play a role: He's giving her the wardrobe, the actions, and the emotional state to adopt to deceive David. He wants her to present a compelling and sympathetic story that will resonate with David's own experiences of loss and justice, indirectly leading David to reconsider Absalom's situation without explicitly mentioning him. The "wise woman" is meant to be a theatrical device, a carefully planned manipulation to soften David's heart.
2 samuel 14:2 - Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, “Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and don’t anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead.
What does "2 samuel 14:2" mean?
This verse sets the stage for a carefully crafted deception by Joab, David's military commander. He needs to subtly manipulate David into allowing Absalom, his son who was banished for murdering his half-brother Amnon, to return to Jerusalem. Here's a breakdown of the meaning:
"Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought a wise woman from there": Joab, a skilled strategist, knew he couldn't directly ask David to bring Absalom back. He understood David's complicated feelings about Absalom. So, he seeks out a "wise woman" from Tekoa. This implies that she is known for her ability to persuade and perhaps even use rhetoric effectively.
"Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and don’t anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead.": This is the core instruction. Joab is telling the woman to create a convincing facade of deep, prolonged grief.
"Mourning clothing": In ancient Israel, specific clothes signified mourning, often coarse and unwashed.
"Don't anoint yourself with oil": Anointing with oil was a sign of joy and well-being. Avoiding it indicated sorrow and deprivation.
"Mourned a long time for the dead": The woman must convincingly portray someone deeply and consistently affected by loss.
In essence, Joab is instructing the woman to play a role: He's giving her the wardrobe, the actions, and the emotional state to adopt to deceive David. He wants her to present a compelling and sympathetic story that will resonate with David's own experiences of loss and justice, indirectly leading David to reconsider Absalom's situation without explicitly mentioning him. The "wise woman" is meant to be a theatrical device, a carefully planned manipulation to soften David's heart.