Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Absalom commands his servants to burn Joab’s adjacent barley field after Joab twice refused to visit him. This act occurs during Absalom’s exile as a calculated provocation to force the king’s intervention.
The words — The Hebrew רְאוּ (re’u) literally means “see” or “look,” serving as a command to direct attention to Joab’s property. Absalom also uses חֶלְקַת (chelkat), translated as “portion of land,” to specify the exact plot holding the barley.
The thread — This calculated use of fire to force a political response echoes the tactics in Judges 15:4 and recalls Absalom’s earlier manipulation of his men in 2 Samuel 13:28. The pattern of using property disputes and written orders to trigger royal action also parallels 1 Kings 21:9.
Why it lands — The text records a deliberate escalation where a disgruntled leader uses property destruction to bypass diplomatic channels. It demands the reader recognize how personal grievances are weaponized to manipulate authority and force confrontation.
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 he said unto his servants, See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
Cross-references
- Judges 15:4 Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.
- 2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
- 1 Kings 21:9 In the letters she wrote: “Proclaim a fast and give Naboth a seat of honor among the people.
- 2 Kings 9:33 “Throw her down!” yelled Jehu. So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.
- 2 Kings 10:6 Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city.