2 Samuel 14:4

When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The woman from Tekoa approaches King David after receiving scripted instructions from Joab, prostrates herself before him, and pleads for royal intervention. (2 Samuel 14:4)

The words — The Hebrew verb תֹּאמֶר (to.mer) translates literally as “and she said,” while תִּפֹּל (ti.Pol) means “and she fell” upon her face (אַפֶּי/הָ). These terms frame her physical submission and verbal request. (2 Samuel 14:4)

The thread — This posture of prostration and plea for royal aid parallels Abigail’s approach to David (1 Samuel 25:23), a distressed messenger’s arrival (2 Samuel 1:2), and a besieged woman’s cry to the king (2 Kings 6:26). (2 Samuel 14:4)

Why it lands — The text records a calculated petition using physical submission to demand royal action, leaving the reader to observe how scripted humility functions as political leverage. (2 Samuel 14:4)

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

וַ֠תֹּאמֶרVa./to.merand/ she said הָאִשָּׁ֤הha./'i.Shahthe/ woman הַתְּקֹעִית֙ha./te.ko.'It<the>/ Tekoite אֶל־'el-to הַמֶּ֔לֶךְha./Me.lekhthe/ king וַתִּפֹּ֧לva./ti.Poland/ she fell עַל־'al-on אַפֶּ֛יהָ'a.Pei./haface/ her אַ֖רְצָה'Ar.tza/h[the] ground/ towards וַתִּשְׁתָּ֑חוּva./tish.Ta.chuand/ she bowed down וַתֹּ֖אמֶרva./To.merand/ she said הוֹשִׁ֥עָהho.Shi.'a/hsave/ !הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ סha./Me.lekhO/ king

King James Version

And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

Cross-references

1 Samuel 25:23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.
2 Samuel 1:2 On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.
2 Kings 6:26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
1 Samuel 20:41 When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.
Job 29:12 because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
Luke 18:3 And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

Places named

Tekoa