2 Samuel 14:17

And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angel of God. May the LORD your God be with you.’”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The unnamed woman from Tekoa addresses King David immediately after he consents to hear her case. She speaks to him at the moment of judicial decision, positioning her petition before his authority.

The words — The phrase דְּבַר־אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ (de.var- 'a.do.N/i ha./Me.lekh) literally means “the word of my lord the king,” referring to the king’s binding decree. The clause יִהְיֶה־לִּי מְנוּחָה (yih.yeh- li m.nu.Chah) translates to “may it become for me rest,” expressing the petitioner’s request for relief through royal intervention.

The thread — The text compares the monarch to an angel of God, a phrase that also appears in 1 Samuel 29:9, 2 Samuel 14:20, and 2 Samuel 19:27. These passages consistently use the comparison to denote the king’s capacity for discernment and his role as a conduit for justice.

Why it lands — The verse states that the petitioner seeks the king’s authoritative word as the means to secure deliverance and rest. It asks the reader to observe how biblical narratives present human governance as the structured channel through which divine protection is pursued.

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.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee.

Cross-references

1 Samuel 29:9 Achish replied, “I know that you are as pleasing in my sight as an angel of God. But the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go into battle with us.’
2 Samuel 19:27 and he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. Yet my lord the king is like the angel of God, so do what is good in your eyes.
2 Samuel 14:20 Joab your servant has done this to bring about this change of affairs, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that happens in the land.”
1 Kings 3:9 Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”
Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.
Job 6:30 Is there iniquity on my tongue? Can my mouth not discern malice?
Proverbs 27:21 A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but a man is tested by the praise accorded him.
Proverbs 29:5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Kings 3:28 When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.