Bible Strands
2 Samuel 14:23
So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joab acts immediately after David grants a petition, leaving the royal court to retrieve Absalom from Geshur. He physically returns the prince to Jerusalem, fulfilling the king’s conditional decree.
The words — וַ/יָּבֵא (va/i.ya.Ve') means “and he brought,” denoting Joab’s direct action of transporting Absalom. יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם (ye.ru.sha.Lim) specifies the destination as Jerusalem, the seat of David’s authority.
The thread — This movement reverses Absalom’s prior flight to Geshur recorded in 2 Samuel 13:37 and reinserts him into the Davidic line detailed in 2 Samuel 3:3. The relocation directly precedes David’s restriction in 2 Samuel 14:24 that Absalom may not see the king’s face.
Why it lands — The text records a political restoration that fulfills a royal command while deliberately withholding full reconciliation. Readers must note how physical return does not equal relational restoration, as Joab’s intervention establishes a new boundary around Absalom’s status.
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
So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 3:3 his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;
- 2 Samuel 13:37 Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But David mourned for his son every day.