Wise Woman of Tekoa

Biblical Account

The story appears in 2 Samuel 14:1-24. After killing his half-brother Amnon, Absalom fled to Geshur, where he remained for three years (2 Samuel 13:37-38). Joab, perceiving that the king's heart was toward Absalom, sent for a wise woman from Tekoa. Tekoa was a town in the hill country of Judah and later the hometown of the prophet Amos (Amos 1:1). Joab had the woman put on mourning apparel and told her what to say (2 Samuel 14:2-3).

Before David, the woman presented herself as a widow and told her story. Her two sons had quarreled in the field, and one had killed the other; now the rest of the family sought to put the surviving son to death as well. If that happened, she pleaded, they would "quench my coal which is left" and leave her husband neither name nor remainder (2 Samuel 14:5-7). The king swore to protect her son from the "revengers of blood" (relatives of a slain person who held the right to avenge his death) (2 Samuel 14:11).

The woman then turned the king's judgment back upon himself. By not bringing home the one he had banished, she said, the king was condemning himself. She went on to say that human beings "are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again," yet God provides a way so that the outcast is not cast off: "yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him" (2 Samuel 14:13-14). David asked whether Joab had a hand in the matter, and the woman acknowledged that he did. David then ordered that Absalom be brought back. Even after his return, however, Absalom did not see the king's face for two years (2 Samuel 14:24, 28).

Significance Within Scripture

This episode is similar in structure to the occasion when Nathan used a fictional story to lead David to pronounce judgment on himself (2 Samuel 12), and the two passages are often compared. In 2 Samuel 20 another wise woman, from the city of Abel, negotiates with Joab and saves her city. For this reason some scholars hold that the "wise woman" was a recognized role within communities of the time. The New Testament does not mention this woman.

Interpretation and Issues

• The Hebrew expression in 14:1 can be read as saying that the king's heart was either "toward" Absalom or "against" him. Interpreters therefore differ on whether David desired reconciliation from the outset.
• Some interpreters suggest that the scenario of two brothers fighting in the field, with one killed, evokes the story of Cain and Abel.
• Verse 14 is frequently cited as a passage about God's grace and restoration. Others, noting that Absalom's return ultimately led to his rebellion (2 Samuel 15), read the story as illustrating the limits of reconciliation without repentance.
• The text does not say that the woman was actually a widow; rather, it records that she feigned mourning. Nor does it give her name.

In Korean Churches

In Korean churches, the woman is often mentioned in sermons on the story of David and Absalom. In particular, the words of 2 Samuel 14:14 about "water spilt on the ground" and "his banished" are cited as a text that speaks of God's restoration and forgiveness.