And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your servant had two sons, and they both fought together in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other, and killed him.
- KJV And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB And your servant had two sons, but the two of them fought in the field, and there was no one to save them from each other, so one struck the other and killed him.
- NLT My two sons had a fight out in the field. And since no one was there to stop it, one of them was killed.
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
She says her two sons fought in the field, and one killed the other with no one to intervene. Her tale parallels the fratricide in David's own family.
Overview
The woman's story of one son slaying the other deliberately echoes Absalom's killing of Amnon. By framing it as a sudden quarrel without witnesses, she invites a more merciful judgment. The scenario is crafted to lead David toward a ruling he might then be challenged to apply to his own son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Deut 22:26–27Do nothing to the young woman, because she has committed no sin worthy of death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.
- Gen 4:8Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
- Exod 2:13The next day Moses went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your companion?”
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 14:6 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.