2 Samuel 13:36

Study note

Setting — The narrator records the immediate aftermath of Jonadab’s prediction to David. The king’s sons burst into the room wailing, which triggers David and his entire court to weep bitterly.

The words — The phrase כְּכַלֹּתוֹ לְדַבֵּר (kəḵallōṯô ləḏabbēr) literally means “when he finished speaking,” marking the precise trigger for the sons’ entrance. The verb וַיִּשְׂא֥וּ (wayyiśʾû), rendered “wailing loudly,” literally means “they lifted up” their voices in lament.

The thread — This collective weeping mirrors David’s earlier reaction to his child’s death in 2 Samuel 12:21 and anticipates his prolonged mourning for Absalom in 2 Samuel 18:33. The narrative repeatedly uses royal lament to track the collapse of the Davidic family.

Why it lands — The text reports the court’s shared grief without commentary, leaving the reader to connect the weeping to the preceding violence. It requires acknowledgment that political and familial structures have broken down, demanding sober attention to the consequences of unchecked sin.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.