Bible Strands
2 Samuel 14:33
So Joab went and told the king, and David summoned Absalom, who came to him and bowed facedown before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joab delivers Absalom’s petition to King David, prompting David to summon the exiled prince to the palace. Absalom arrives, prostrates himself before the king, and receives a royal kiss.
The words — וַ/יִּקְרָ֤א (va/i.yik.Ra') translates literally as “and he summoned,” recording the decisive royal command that ends Absalom’s exile. אַבְשָׁלוֹם ('av.sha.lOm) identifies the specific son whose physical return to the throne room completes the narrative sequence.
The thread — The king’s kiss mirrors the physical gesture of reconciliation when Esau embraces Jacob at Genesis 33:4 and when a father runs to his returning son at Luke 15:20. These parallels position the kiss as a recognized biblical marker of restored relationship.
Why it lands — The text records a political pardon enacted through physical contact rather than legal decree. It demands the reader recognize that reconciliation and restoration operate through tangible, costly gestures that bypass formal procedure.
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 came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
Cross-references
- Luke 15:20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
- Genesis 33:4 Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.
- Genesis 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
- Genesis 45:15 Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept over them. And afterward his brothers talked with him.