2 Samuel 14:13

King James Version (KJV)

And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing - The woman, having now got the king's promise confirmed by all oath, that her son should not suffer for the murder of his brother, comes immediately to her conclusion: Is not the king to blame? Does he now act a consistent part? He is willing to pardon the meanest of his subjects the murder of a brother at the instance of a poor widow, and he is not willing to pardon his son Absalom, whose restoration to favor is the desire of the whole nation. Is that clemency to be refused to the king's son, the hope of the nation and heir to the throne, which is shown to a private individual, whose death or life can only be of consequence to one family? Why, therefore, dost thou not bring back thy banished child?

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

We may notice here, how this widow pleads God's mercy, and his clemency toward poor guilty sinners. The state of sinners is a state of banishment from God. God pardons none to the dishonour of his law and justice, nor any who are impenitent; nor to the encouragement of crimes, or the hurt of others.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

13. Wherefore then? Since David had followed such a course in this instance, what reason did he have for not following it in another? If he had done right in granting a reprieve to her son, who was worthy of death, what was there to prevent him from granting a reprieve to Absalom, who was guilty of murder?

Against the people. Against Absalom and all Israel with him. Absalom was the heir apparent. He therefore belonged to the people and they to him. A crime against him was a crime against all Israel. In refusing to allow the heir to the throne to return to his land, David was depriving the people of their rights to have with them their prospective king. The wrong against Absalom was a wrong against the nation he was to rule. The woman was still only hinting at what she wanted to say, but her words were sufficiently plain that David could no longer escape their meaning.

As one which is faulty. The woman now came directly to the point. David had just proved himself at fault in his dealings with Absalom by the verdict he had rendered in the case of her son. He had agreed that it was not right that she be deprived of her heir, but he was depriving Israel of its heir. In pronouncing himself in favor of her son he had condemned himself in his conduct toward Absalom.

The king doth not fetch. These words show clearly that David was responsible for the continued banishment of Absalom. All that was needed to bring him home was that David extend the invitation. The people wanted him, Absalom was anxious to return, and even the royal household would welcome him back. But David himself stood in the way. This was interpreted as a wrong, not only against Absalom, but against the nation at large.

Banished. From the Heb. nadach, “to impel,” “to thrust.” The root occurs in Deut. 30:3-5, Jer. 40:12, Micah 4:6, and Zeph. 3:19, where it is applied to the people of God driven into a heathen land.

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Ellen G. White
The Great Controversy, 299

One of the most solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible is that of Christ's second coming to complete the great work of redemption. To God's pilgrim people, so long left to sojourn in “the region and shadow of death,” a precious, joy-inspiring hope is given in the promise of His appearing, who is “the resurrection and the life,” to “bring home again His banished.” The doctrine of the second advent is the very keynote of the Sacred Scriptures. From the day when the first pair turned their sorrowing steps from Eden, the children of faith have waited the coming of the Promised One to break the destroyer's power and bring them again to the lost Paradise. Holy men of old looked forward to the advent of the Messiah in glory, as the consummation of their hope. Enoch, only the seventh in descent from them that dwelt in Eden, he who for three centuries on earth walked with his God, was permitted to behold from afar the coming of the Deliverer. “Behold,” he declared, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. The patriarch Job in the night of his affliction exclaimed with unshaken trust: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: ... in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:25-27. GC 299.1

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Wherefore

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