“Yo’av the son of Tz’ruyah perceived that the king missed Avshalom;”
-2 Samuel 14:1
While Avishalom was chilling with his mother’s side of the family in Geshur, David was in torment over the murder of Amnon, his firstborn son.
Of course, the loss of any child was tragic.
But the loss of a firstborn was particularly devastating.
Why?
In Hebrew society, and per the Torah, a firstborn male child held the highest status.
Nevertheless, after three years, it seems like David finally overcame his grief over Amnon’s death.
Now, the opening verses of chapter 14 (per our English Bibles with their faulty chapter divisions) tell us that David missed or longed for Avishalom.
This is specifically referring to those 3 years when Avishalom was in Geshur.
Okay, so right here, I need to call out a faulty translation.
Let’s look at the original Hebrew.
וַיֵּדַע יוֹאָב בֶּן-צְרוּיָה, כִּי־לֵב הַמֶּלֶךְ עַל־אַבְשָׁלוֹם.
Here’s the transliteration:
Vayedaʿ Yo’av ben-Tz’ruyah ki-lev ha-melekh ʿal-Avshalom.
Take note of the words I bolded, which are LEV and AL-AVISHALOM.
Normally, Christian scholars translate LEV to mean “heart.”
They’re wrong.
I’ve already gone over this a million times.
Understand that in the Biblical era, the “heart” was considered to be the seat of our rational thought processes.
In other words, the “heart” meant the “mind” as we understand it today.
Ya feeling me?
So my point is, when Christian scholars read that David’s LEV was AL-AVISHALOM, they immediately assume it means something like…
“David longed for Absalom”…
Or…
“David missed Absalom”…
Or some variation of that notion.
But here’s the truth, homies.
The real meaning, based on the original Hebrew, is the exact opposite.
Lemme explain.
The key is in the word AL.
While it can mean “on” or “about,” it often means “against.”
So what was going on in David’s mind (not heart) was NOT that he was longing for Absalom.
Quite the contrary, homies.
He was dead set against him.
Keep in mind that Absalom was the one who instigated the murder of his beloved firstborn son.
On top of that, would it make sense that David would refuse to speak to Avishalom for three long years if he really longed after him?
And even when Absalom returned, David still refused to see him for another 2 years (2 Samuel 14:28).
Ya feel me here?
Now I get that to say David’s heart was fully against Absalom may be too binary of an interpretation.
For sure, there was a complex mix of justice, grief, guilt, political caution, and fatherly affection.
Yet even the highly respected 19th-century Jewish biblical scholar Alfred Edersheim sides with the position I presented here.
So the bottom line?
Translating “lev ha-melekh al-Avshalom” as “the king’s heart was against Absalom” is the accurate translation given the context.
Next, we’re told Joab correctly perceived what was going on in David’s mind (not heart) and decided to take steps to do something about it.
The question is, why?
That’s what we’ll get into the next time we meet.
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