2 Samuel 14:14
New International Version
Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

New Living Translation
All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.

English Standard Version
We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.

New American Standard Bible
For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up. Yet God does not take away life, but makes plans so that the banished one will not be cast out from Him.

NASB 1995
“For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him.

NASB 1977
“For we shall surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but plans ways so that the banished one may not be cast out from him.

Legacy Standard Bible
For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but thinks up ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him.

Amplified Bible
For we will certainly die and are like water that is spilled on the ground and cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not [simply] take away life, but devises plans so that the one who is banished is not driven away from Him.

Christian Standard Bible
We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; he would devise plans so that the one banished from him does not remain banished.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.”

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because we are surely dying, and like water we are poured out on the ground, and it is not gathered, and God does not take away the soul, and he devises a plan lest a person would be lost from him

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For we shall surely die, and be as water poured upon the earth, which shall not be gathered up, and God shall take the life, even as he devises to thrust forth from him his outcast.

Contemporary English Version
We each must die and disappear like water poured out on the ground. But God doesn't take our lives. Instead, he figures out ways of bringing us back when we run away.

Douay-Rheims Bible
We all die, and like waters that return no more, we fall down into the earth: neither will God have a soul to perish, but recalleth, meaning that he that is cast off should not altogether perish.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
We are all going to die; we are all like water that is poured on the ground and can't be gathered up. But doesn't God forgive a person? He never plans to keep a banished person in exile.

Good News Translation
We will all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which can't be gathered again. Even God does not bring the dead back to life, but the king can at least find a way to bring a man back from exile.

International Standard Version
After all, even though we all die, and we're all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn't take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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; but let him devise means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him.

Literal Standard Version
for we surely die, and [are] as water which is running down to the earth, which is not gathered, and God does not accept a person, and has devised plans in that the outcast is not outcast by Him.

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
We must indeed die; we are then like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up. Yet, though God does not bring back to life, he does devise means so as not to banish anyone from him.

NET Bible
Certainly we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored.

New Revised Standard Version
We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up. But God will not take away a life; he will devise plans so as not to keep an outcast banished forever from his presence.

New Heart English Bible
For we must die, and are as water split 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.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
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.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Absalom's Return to Jerusalem
13The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son? 14For 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. 15Now therefore, I have come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the request of his maidservant.…

Cross References
Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

Numbers 35:15
These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

Numbers 35:25
The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

2 Samuel 14:15
Now therefore, I have come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the request of his maidservant.

Job 30:23
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

Job 34:15
all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

Psalm 58:7
May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.


Treasury of Scripture

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

we must

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.

Job 30:23
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

Job 34:15
All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

as water

Job 14:7-12,14
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…

Psalm 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.

Psalm 79:3
Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

neither, etc.

God

Deuteronomy 10:17
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

Job 34:19
How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.

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.

he devise

Exodus 21:13
And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.

Leviticus 26:40
If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

Numbers 35:15,25,28
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…

Jump to Previous
Banished Devise Devises Die Expelled Gathered Ground Life Means Needs Outcast Respect Spilled Spilt Split Surely Water
Jump to Next
Banished Devise Devises Die Expelled Gathered Ground Life Means Needs Outcast Respect Spilled Spilt Split Surely Water
2 Samuel 14
1. Joab, suborning a widow of Tekoah to incline the king's heart to fetch Absalom,
21. brings him home to Jerusalem
25. Absalom's beauty, hair, and children
28. After two years, Absalom is brought into the king's presence by Joab














(14) We must needs die.--The woman now goes on to a further argument from the uncertainty of life. Whether she would suggest the possibility of Absalom's dying in banishment (as some think), or of David's death before he has been reconciled to his son (as others hold) does not matter. She craftily withdraws attention from the real point--the question of right and justice--and, assuming that the thing ought to be done, suggests that delay is unsafe since life is uncertain. Still another explanation of her argument may be given: "Amnon is dead, and it is useless to grieve longer for him; God does not respect persons, Absalom too must die, and you yourself must die; improve the time and the blessings yet left while there is opportunity."

Neither doth God respect any person.--The Hebrew is difficult, but the English is certainly wrong. The literal translation is "And God doth not take away the soul, but thinketh thoughts that He may not banish the banished one;" and the meaning is that God in wrath remembers mercy, and does not press punishment to extremes.

Verse 14. - Neither doth God, etc. This translation is altogether wrong. What the woman says is, "God taketh not life [Hebrew, 'a soul'] away, but thinketh thoughts not to banish from him his banished one." Her argument is that death is the common lot, and that there is no way of bringing back the dead to life. But though death is thus a universal law, yet God does not kill. Death is not a penalty exacted as a punishment, but, on the contrary, he is merciful, and when a man has sinned, instead of putting him to death, he is ready to forgive and welcome back one rejected because of his wickedness. The application is plain. The king cannot restore Amnon to life, and neither must he kill the guilty Absalom, but must recall his banished son. The argument is full of poetry, and touching to the feelings, but is not very sound. For God requires repentance and change of heart; and there was no sign of contrition on Absalom's part. The power of the woman's appeal lay in what she says of God's nature. He is not intent on punishing, nor bent on carrying out the sentences of the Law in their stern literalness; but he is ready to forgive, and "deviseth devices" to bring home those now separate from him. There is also much that is worth pondering over in the distinction between death as a law of nature, and death as a penalty. The one is necessary, and often gentle and beneficial; but death as a penalty is stern and terrible.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
For
כִּי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

surely
מ֣וֹת (mō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

we will die
נָמ֔וּת (nā·mūṯ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

and be like water
וְכַמַּ֙יִם֙ (wə·ḵam·ma·yim)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

poured out
הַנִּגָּרִ֣ים (han·nig·gā·rîm)
Article | Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 5064: To flow, to stretch out, to pour out, down, to deliver over

on the ground,
אַ֔רְצָה (’ar·ṣāh)
Noun - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

which
אֲשֶׁ֖ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

cannot
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

be recovered.
יֵאָסֵ֑פוּ (yê·’ā·sê·p̄ū)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 622: To gather for, any purpose, to receive, take away, remove

Yet God
אֱלֹהִים֙ (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

does not
וְלֹֽא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

take away
יִשָּׂ֤א (yiś·śā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

a life;
נֶ֔פֶשׁ (ne·p̄eš)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5315: A soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion

but He devises
וְחָשַׁב֙ (wə·ḥā·šaḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2803: To think, account

ways
מַֽחֲשָׁב֔וֹת (ma·ḥă·šā·ḇō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4284: A contrivance, a texture, machine, intention, plan

so that the banished one
יִדַּ֥ח (yid·daḥ)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5080: To impel, thrust, banish

may not
לְבִלְתִּ֛י (lə·ḇil·tî)
Preposition-l
Strong's 1115: A failure of, not, except, without, unless, besides, because not, until

remain estranged
נִדָּֽח׃ (nid·dāḥ)
Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5080: To impel, thrust, banish

from Him.
מִמֶּ֖נּוּ (mim·men·nū)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of


Links
2 Samuel 14:14 NIV
2 Samuel 14:14 NLT
2 Samuel 14:14 ESV
2 Samuel 14:14 NASB
2 Samuel 14:14 KJV

2 Samuel 14:14 BibleApps.com
2 Samuel 14:14 Biblia Paralela
2 Samuel 14:14 Chinese Bible
2 Samuel 14:14 French Bible
2 Samuel 14:14 Catholic Bible

OT History: 2 Samuel 14:14 For we must needs die and (2Sa iiSam 2 Sam ii sam)
2 Samuel 14:13
Top of Page
Top of Page