SEV Biblia, Chapter 14:14
Porque de cierto morimos, y somos como aguas derramadas por tierra, que no pueden volver a recogerse; ni Dios hace acepción de personas, mas busca la manera para no echar de si al desechado.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 14:14
Verse 14. For we must needs die] Whatever is done must be done quickly; all must die; God has not exempted any person from this common lot. Though Amnon be dead, yet the death of Absalom cannot bring him to life, nor repair this loss. Besides, for his crime, he justly deserved to die; and thou, in this case didst not administer justice. Horrible as this fratricide is, it is a pardonable case: the crime of Amnon was the most flagitious; and the offense to Absalom, the ruin of his beloved sister, indescribably great.
Seeing, then, that the thing is so, and that Amnon can be no more recalled to life than water spilt upon the ground can be gathered up again; and that God, whose vicegerent thou art, and whose example of clemency as well as justice thou art called to imitate, devises means that those who were banished from him by sin and transgression, may not be finally expelled from his mercy and his kingdom; restore thy son to favour, and pardon his crime, as thou hast promised to restore my son, and the Lord thy God will be with thee. This is the sum and sense of the woman's argument.
The argument contained in this 14th verse is very elegant, and powerfully persuasive; but one clause of it has been variously understood, Neither doth God respect any person; the Hebrew is, Ťpn µyhla aŤy alw velo yissa Elohim nephesh, "And God doth not take away the soul." The Septuagint has it, kai lhyetai o qeov thn yuchn; And God will receive the soul. This intimates that, after human life is ended, the soul has a state of separate existence with God. This was certainly the opinion of these translators, and was the opinion of the ancient Jews, at least three hundred years before the incarnation; about which time this translation was made.
The Vulgate has, Nec volt Deus perire animam, "Nor does God will the destruction of the soul." God is not the author of death; neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living; imitate him; pardon and recall thy son.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 14. For we must needs die , etc.] As all must, herself, the king, and his sons, and indeed all men; this is the common case and lot of men; particularly she insinuates that David must die, and that there must be a successor named, and perhaps a dispute would arise about one; which might be fatal, if Absalom was not recalled in his lifetime; and that Amnon must have died in a little time if he had not been killed by his brother; and Absalom, he must die also quickly, and therefore what signifies taking away his life? he may as well live a little longer; this, however plausible, was but bad reasoning in the case of a malefactor: and [are] as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again ; which sinks into the earth, and cannot be got out of it again; so men, when they die, are buried in the earth, and cannot be gathered or restored to life again, until the resurrection of the dead; and since Amnon is dead, and he cannot be brought to life again, it is best to be easy, and not seek to take away the life of another; which is to bring him into the same irrecoverable state and condition: neither doth God respect [any] person ; the words in the original are, “God doth not take away the soul or life” f241 ; of every offender, but spares them notwithstanding the crimes they have committed; and therefore it became the king to be sparing and merciful to offenders, and particularly to his own son; and perhaps she any tacitly have respect to David himself who had been guilty both of murder and adultery, either of which deserved death; and yet God had not taken away his life, but in his great mercy had spared him; and therefore, since he had received mercy, he should show it: or “God hath not taken away [his] soul or life”; the life of Absalom; he had not cut him off himself by his immediate hand, nor suffered the king’s sons to take away his life, nor any other to seize upon him, and bring him to justice, whom David might have employed; but had by his providence protected and preserved him; so that it seemed to be his will and pleasure that he should not be put to death: yet doth he devise means that his banished be not expelled from him ; from his word, worship, and ordinances, as Absalom was; and by protecting him by his providence, it looked as if it was his will, and he would find out ways and means for bringing him back to his country, his father’s court, and the sanctuary of the Lord; even as, by the law concerning the cities of refuge for the manslayer, provision was made that at the death of the high priest the exiled person might return to his country.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-20 - We may notice here, how this widow pleads God's mercy, and his clemenc toward poor guilty sinners. The state of sinners is a state of banishment from God. God pardons none to the dishonour of his law an justice, nor any who are impenitent; nor to the encouragement of crimes, or the hurt of others.
Original Hebrew
כי 3588 מות 4191 נמות 4191 וכמים 4325 הנגרים 5064 ארצה 776 אשׁר 834 לא 3808 יאספו 622 ולא 3808 ישׂא 5375 אלהים 430 נפשׁ 5315 וחשׁב 2803 מחשׁבות 4284 לבלתי 1115 ידח 5080 ממנו 4480 נדח׃ 5080
