2 Samuel 14 · Verse 14

2 Samuel 14:14

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

2 Samuel 14:14, King James Version

2 Samuel 14:14 in other translations

BSB	For surely we will die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.
WEB	For we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can’t be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him.
ASV	For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him.
YLT	for we do surely die, and are as water which is running down to the earth, which is not gathered, and God doth not accept a person, and hath devised devices in that the outcast is not outcast by Him.
DARBY	For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; and God has not taken away his life, but devises means that the banished one be not expelled from him.
BBE	For death comes to us all, and we are like water drained out on the earth, which it is not possible to take up again; and God will not take away the life of the man whose purpose is that he who has been sent away may not be completely cut off from him.
Webster	For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

What does 2 Samuel 14:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 14:2-21

2Sa 14:1-21. Joab Instructs a Woman of Tekoah. 2-21. And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman--The king was strongly attached to Absalom; and having now got over his sorrow for the violent death of Amnon, he was desirous of again enjoying the society of his favorite son, who had now been three long years absent. But a dread of public opinion and a regard to the public interests made him hesitate…

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Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 14 For we must needs die - Whatever is done must be done quickly; all must die; God has not exempted any person from this common lot. Though Amnon be dead, yet the death of Absalom cannot bring him to life, nor repair this loss. Besides, for his crime, he justly deserved to die; and thou, in this case didst not administer justice. Horrible as this fratricide is, it is a pardonable case: the crime of Amnon was the most flagitious; and the offense to Absalom, the ruin of his beloved sister, indescribably great. Seeing, then, that the thing is so, and that Amnon can be no more recalled to life than water spilt upon the ground can be gathered up again; and that God, whose vicegerent thou art, and whose example of clemency as well as justice thou art called to imitate, devises means that those who were banished from him by sin and transgression, may not be finally expelled from his mercy and his kingdom; restore thy son to favor, and pardon his crime, as thou hast promised to restore my son, and the Lord thy God will be with thee. This is the sum and sense of the woman's argument. The argument contained in this 14th verse is very elegant, and powerfully persuasive; but one clause of it has been variously understood, Neither doth God respect any person; the Hebrew is, ולא ישא אלהים נפש velo yissa Elohim nephesh, "And God doth not take away the soul." The Septuagint has it, Και ληψεται ὁ Θεος την ψυχην; And God will receive the soul. This intimates that, after human life is ended, the soul has a state of separate existence with God. This was certainly the opinion of these translators, and was the opinion of the ancient Jews, at least three hundred years before the incarnation; about which time this translation was made. The Vulgate has, Nec volt Deus perire animam, "Nor does God will the destruction of the soul." God is not the author of death; neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living; imitate him; pardon and recall thy son.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel 14:1-20

We may notice here, how this widow pleads God's mercy, and his clemency toward poor guilty sinners. The state of sinners is a state of banishment from God. God pardons none to the dishonour of his law and justice, nor any who are impenitent; nor to the encouragement of crimes, or the hurt of others.

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 14:1-20 →

2 Samuel 14:14 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּי\־ki-forH3588

מ֣וֹתMotcertainly <to die>H4191

נָמ֔וּתna.Mutwe will dieH4191

וְכַמַּ֙יִם֙ve.kha.Ma.yimand [we are] like <the> watersH4325

הַנִּגָּרִ֣יםha.ni.ga.Rimwhich are spilledH5064

אַ֔רְצָה'Ar.tzah[the] ground towardsH776

אֲשֶׁ֖ר'a.SherwhichH834

לֹ֣אlo'notH3808

יֵאָסֵ֑פוּye.'a.Se.futhey will be gatheredH622

וְלֹֽא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808

יִשָּׂ֤אyi.Sa'he takes awayH5375

אֱלֹהִים֙'E.lo.HimGodH430

נֶ֔פֶשׁNe.feshlifeH5315

וְחָשַׁב֙ve.cha.Shavand he plansH2803

מַֽחֲשָׁב֔וֹתma.cha.sha.VotplansH4284

לְבִלְתִּ֛יle.vil.Tito notH1115

יִדַּ֥חyi.Dachhe will be cast outH5080

מִמֶּ֖נּוּmi.Me.nufrom himH4480

נִדָּֽח\׃ni.Dacha banished [one]H5080

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Samuel 14:14

Job 30:23
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
Numbers 35:28
Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Numbers 35:15
These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.
Job 34:15
All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
Numbers 35:25
And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.
Job 14:7-12
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? …
Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Psalms 22:14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
Job 14:14
If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Matthew 22:16
And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.
2 Samuel 11:25
Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

we must.
11:25; Job 30:23; 34:15; Ps 90:3,10; Ec 3:19,20; 9:5; Heb 9:27
as water.
Job 14:7-12,14; Ps 22:14; 79:3
neither, etc. or, because God hath not taken away his life,he hath also devised means, etc. God.
De 10:17; Job 34:19; Mt 22:16; Ac 10:34; Ro 2:11; 1Pe 1:17
he devise.
Ex 21:13; Le 26:40; Nu 35:15,25,28; Isa 50:1,2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

2 Samuel 14:13
And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.
2 Samuel 14:14
For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
2 Samuel 14:15
Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.

Read all of 2 Samuel 14

2 Samuel 14:14 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Porque de cierto morimos, y somos como aguas derramadas por tierra, que no pueden volver á recogerse: ni Dios quita la vida, sino que arbitra medio para que su desviado no sea de él excluído.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Car nous mourrons certainement, et nous sommes comme de l’eau versée sur la terre, qu’on ne peut recueillir. Et Dieu ne lui a point ôté la vie, mais il a la pensée que celui qui est chassé ne demeure plus chassé loin de lui.
German Elberfelder 1871	Denn wir müssen gewißlich sterben und sind wie Wasser, das auf die Erde geschüttet ist, welches man nicht wieder sammeln kann; und Gott nimmt nicht das Leben weg, sondern er sinnt darauf, daß der Verstoßene nicht von ihm weg verstoßen bleibe.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Omnes morimur, et quasi aquæ dilabimur in terram, quæ non revertuntur: nec vult Deus perire animam, sed retractat cogitans ne penitus pereat qui abjectus est.