Bible Strands
2 Samuel 14:29
Then he sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So Absalom sent a second time, but Joab still would not come.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Absalom, dwelling in Jerusalem for two years without royal audience, dispatches a messenger to Joab requesting that Joab arrange an audience with the king. Joab refuses both the initial and second requests.
The words — וַ/יִּשְלַ֨ח (va/i.yish.Lach) and לִ/שְלֹ֤חַ (li/sh.Lo.ach) both derive from the root שָׁלַח (H7971), meaning "to send." The text explicitly records Absalom sending the command twice and Joab's repeated refusal to come.
The thread — The pattern of a sent command meeting refusal appears in Esther 1:12 and Matthew 22:3, while the immediate narrative context in 2 Samuel 14:30 shows Absalom escalating to burning Joab’s field when the refusal persists.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how repeated diplomatic requests can fail when relational authority is fractured, prompting the requester to resort to coercion. It leaves the reader to observe the breakdown of formal channels before violent escalation.
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
Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 14:30 Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
- Esther 1:12 Queen Vashti, however, refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs. And the king became furious, and his anger burned within him.
- Matthew 22:3 He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.