2 Samuel 14:7

14:7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death 1  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, 2  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

2 Samuel 14:12

14:12 Then the woman said, “Please permit your servant to speak to my lord the king about another matter.” He replied, “Tell me.”

2 Samuel 14:15

14:15 I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful. 3  But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant 4  asks.

1 tn Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition בְּ (bÿ, “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii, or bet (בְּ) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something.

2 sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line.

3 tc The LXX (ὄψεταί με, opsetai me) has misunderstood the Hebrew יֵרְאֻנִי (yerÿ’uni, Piel perfect, “they have made me fearful”), taking the verb to be a form of the verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) rather than the verb יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”). The fact that the Greek translators were working with an unvocalized Hebrew text (i.e., consonants only) made them very susceptible to this type of error.

4 tn Here and in v. 16 the woman refers to herself as the king’s אָמָה (’amah), a term that refers to a higher level female servant toward whom the master might have some obligation. Like the other term, this word expresses her humility, but it also suggests that the king might have some obligation to treat her in accordance with the principles of justice.