God’s Word Translation
2 Samuel 14:14
14We are all going to die; we are all like water that is poured on the ground and can’t be gathered up. But doesn’t God forgive a person? He never plans to keep a banished person in exile.
2 Samuel 14:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
- New International Version (NIV)Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.
- English Standard Version (ESV)We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.
Context of 2 Samuel 14:14
12The woman said, “Please let me say something else to you.” “Speak,” he said. 13“Why have you devised something like this against God’s people?” she said. “When you say this, you condemn yourself because you haven’t brought back the one you banished! We are all going to die; we are all like water that is poured on the ground and can’t be gathered up. But doesn’t God forgive a person? He never plans to keep a banished person in exile. 15“I’ve come to say this to you because the people have frightened me. So I thought, ‘I will speak to the king about this. Maybe the king will do something for me, his subject. 16Maybe the king will listen and rescue me, his subject, from the man who wants to cut off both me and my son from ⌞our⌟ God-given inheritance.’
Read all of 2 Samuel 142 Samuel 14:14 word by word
כִּי־מ֣וֹת נָמ֔וּת וְכַמַּ֙יִם֙ הַנִּגָּרִ֣ים אַ֔רְצָה אֲשֶׁ֖ר לֹ֣א יֵאָסֵ֑פוּ וְלֹֽא־יִשָּׂ֤א אֱלֹהִים֙ נֶ֔פֶשׁ וְחָשַׁב֙ מַֽחֲשָׁב֔וֹת לְבִלְתִּ֛י יִדַּ֥ח מִמֶּ֖נּוּ נִדָּֽח׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For we must needsמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
- as waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
- spiltנָגַרnâgar · to pourH5064
- on the groundאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776
- which cannot be gathered up againאָסַף'âsaph · to gatherH622
- neither doth Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- respectנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375
- personנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
- yet doth he deviseחָשַׁבchâshab · to devise: designH2803
- meansמַחֲשָׁבָהmachăshâbâh machăshebeth · plotH4284
- that his banishedנָדַחnâdach · to banishH5080
Cross-references for 2 Samuel 14:14
- 2 Samuel 11:25David said to the messenger, “This is what you are to say to Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing trouble you, because a sword can kill one person as easily as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage him.”
- Job 30:23I know you will lead me to death, to the dwelling place appointed for all living beings.
- Job 34:15all living beings would die together, and humanity would return to dust.
- Psalms 90:3You turn mortals back into dust and say, “Return, descendants of Adam.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:19Humans and animals have the same destiny. One dies just like the other. All of them have the same breath ⌞of life⌟. Humans have no advantage over animals. All ⌞of life⌟ is pointless.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5The living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything. There is no more reward for the dead when the memory of them has faded.
- Hebrews 9:27People die once, and after that they are judged.
- Job 14:7There is hope for a tree when it is cut down. It will sprout again. Its shoots will not stop sprouting.
- Psalms 22:14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It has melted within me.
- Psalms 79:3They have shed the blood of your people around Jerusalem as though it were water. There is no one to bury your people.
- Deuteronomy 10:17The Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, powerful, and awe-inspiring God. He never plays favorites and never takes a bribe.
- Job 34:19The one who is righteous and mighty does not grant special favors to princes or prefer important people over poor people because his hands made them all.
- Matthew 22:16They sent their disciples to him along with Herod’s followers. They said to him, “Teacher, we know that you tell the truth and that you teach the truth about the way of God. You don’t favor individuals because of who they are.
- Acts 10:34Then Peter said, “Now I understand that God doesn’t play favorites.
- Romans 2:11God does not play favorites.
- 1 Peter 1:17So if you call God your Father, live your time as temporary residents on earth in fear. He is the God who judges all people by what they have done, and he doesn’t play favorites.
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 14:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14For we must needs die - Whatever is done must be done quickly; all must die; God has not exempted any person from this common lot. Though Amnon be dead, yet the death of Absalom cannot bring him to life, nor repair this loss. Besides, for his crime, he justly deserved to die; and thou, in this case didst not administer justice. Horrible as this fratricide is, it is a pardonable case: the crime of Amnon was the most flagitious; and the offense to Absalom…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14His banished - The use of the word as applied to one of the people of God driven into a pagan land, is well illustrated by Deuteronomy 30:4-5; Jeremiah 40:12; Micah 4:6; Zephaniah 3:19. Neither doth God respect any person - Some prefer the margin: “And God does not take away life, in the case of every sin that deserves death, e. g. David‘s own case 2 Samuel 12:13, but devises devices that the wanderer may not be forever expelled from him, i. e., for the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14God … devises ways: The woman encouraged David to make peace with Absalom, just as God does with his people. God did not stay distant from David when he sinned. He forgave the king when he repented.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-212Sa 14:1-21. Joab Instructs a Woman of Tekoah. 2-21. And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman--The king was strongly attached to Absalom; and having now got over his sorrow for the violent death of Amnon, he was desirous of again enjoying the society of his favorite son, who had now been three long years absent. But a dread of public opinion and a regard to the public interests made him hesitate about recalling or pardoning his guilty son…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Samuel 14:14
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries