14:4-7
The woman duly went to the king and fell face down before him. She then asked for the king to help her. Then she gave the king her tale. The scenario is something like the one when Nathan the prophet confronted David. Nathan gave a tale that had parallels with David’s situation. The same applies here. The difference is that Nathan was following God’s instructions, the woman was following Joab’s instructions. The tale involved the woman having two sons, and one of them killing the other. The woman was being pressured to hand the other son over. This would have meant the surviving son being put to death. So the woman would be left with no sons. David had several sons, but Absalom had killed Amnon. David felt that justice meant Absalom should suffer, even be put to death, yet David loved Absalom. David’s feelings and thoughts would also be compromised by the fact that he had had Uriah put to death.
14:8-11
The king assures the woman that he will deal with the situation so that her surviving son is not put to death. The case was one of manslaughter rather than murder, so David would pardon the woman and her family. There is a rather protracted discussion, with the king giving his absolute assurance. The woman wanted David to give this absolute assurance, so that he would then be bound to act favourably towards Absalom.
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