Bible Strands
2 Samuel 14:3
Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joab instructs the wise woman from Tekoa to approach King David and deliver a specific prepared message. This occurs immediately after he has directed her to adopt the appearance and demeanor of a long-term mourner.
The words — The phrase וַיִּשֶׂם (va/yi.sem) translates literally as "and he put," describing Joab's active role in placing the scripted words into the woman's mouth.
The thread — This motif of agency placing words into a speaker's mouth appears in Exodus 4:15, Numbers 23:5, and is later confirmed in 2 Samuel 14:19 when David asks if Joab orchestrated the event.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human persuasion can be carefully engineered, and it requires the reader to examine how authority figures manipulate narrative to achieve political ends.
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 come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 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 23:5 Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
- Isaiah 51:16 I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
- Isaiah 59:21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.
- Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.