Bible Strands
2 Samuel 14:19
So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The king directly questions the woman about Joab's involvement in the situation she just described. She answers him face-to-face while standing in his presence.
The words — הֲ/יַ֥ד יוֹאָ֛ב אִתָּ֖/ךְ (ha./Yad yo.'Av 'i.Ta/kh) literally means "is the hand of Joab with you?" pointing to hidden agency. The woman's reply anchors her statement in the oath formula "As surely as you live" to stress the king's unalterable authority.
The thread — This exchange echoes Joab's earlier instruction to place words in the woman's mouth (2 Samuel 14:3). The oath formula parallels Hannah's address to Eli (1 Samuel 1:26) and the divine commissioning pattern seen in Exodus 4:15.
Why it lands — The text records a political inquiry followed by a calculated affirmation of royal power, revealing how court figures navigate authority without naming the manipulator outright. A reader must note the woman's precise compliance with Joab's script while acknowledging the king's recognized sovereignty.
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
And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid:
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 14:3 Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.
- 1 Samuel 1:26 “Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
- Exodus 4:15 You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.
- Numbers 20:17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”
- Deuteronomy 5:32 So be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or to the left.
- Deuteronomy 28:14 Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.
- Joshua 1:7 Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.
- 1 Samuel 17:55 As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” “As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.”
- 1 Samuel 20:3 But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
- 1 Samuel 25:26 Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, may your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.