Joab your servant has done this to bring about this change of affairs, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that happens in the land.”
Parallel translations
- WEB to change the face of the matter has your servant Joab done this thing. My lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.”
- KJV To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.
- NKJV To bring about this change of affairs your servant Joab has done this thing; but my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that is in the earth.”
- NASB In order to change the appearance of things your servant Joab has done this thing. But my lord is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know all that is on the earth.”
- NLT He did it to place the matter before you in a different light. But you are as wise as an angel of God, and you understand everything that happens among us!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The woman explains Joab's aim was to change the situation, again praising David's God-like wisdom. It frames the deception as serving a good end while flattering the king.
Overview
She admits the scheme was designed to alter the matter of Absalom and once more compares David's wisdom to an angel's. The repeated flattery underscores how the appeal leaned on praise to win David over. While David's discernment is real, the narrative quietly warns that even a wise king can be steered by orchestrated counsel toward an incomplete reconciliation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Sam 14:17And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angel of God. May the LORD your God be with you.’”
- 2 Sam 19:27and he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. Yet my lord the king is like the angel of God, so do what is good in your eyes.
- Job 38:16–41Have you journeyed to the vents of the sea or walked in the trenches of the deep?
- Job 32:21–22I will be partial to no one, nor will I flatter any man.
- 2 Sam 5:23So David inquired of the LORD, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.
- Gen 3:5“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
- Prov 26:28A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
- Prov 29:5A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
- 1 Cor 8:1–2Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 14:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.