2 Samuel 18:13

Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Against mine own life.—The English, like the Vulg., here follows the margin of the Hebrew; the LXX., in most MSS., following the text, has against his life. Either makes a good sense, but the English is preferable. In this parley Joab thoroughly exposes his unscrupulous and self-willed character, and the man shows that he understood it.

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 18:13. I should have wrought falsehood against my own life — Not only have been false and disobedient to the king, but should have betrayed my own life, and therefore not have been true to myself. For there is no matter hid from the king — This, as all other things, would certainly have come to the king’s ear. Thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me — Thou wouldest have been my adversary and accuser, both because it would have been thy duty to be so, and to vindicate thyself from any blame in the matter. He knew the disposition of Joab so well, that he was sure that general would have been as forward as any one both to inform the king of what had been done, and to have had the person punished who did it, for disobeying his sovereign.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:9-18 Let young people look upon Absalom, hanging on a tree, accursed, forsaken of heaven and earth; there let them read the Lord's abhorrence of rebellion against parents. Nothing can preserve men from misery and contempt, but heavenly wisdom and the grace of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The man gives a remarkable incidental testimony to David's sagacity and penetration (compare 2 Samuel 14:19), and to Joab's known unscrupulousness.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11, 12. Joab said unto the man that told him, … I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle—that is, would have raised him from the ranks to the status of a commissioned officer. Besides a sum of money, a girdle, curiously and richly wrought, was among the ancient Hebrews a mark of honor, and sometimes bestowed as a reward of military merit. This soldier, however, who may be taken as a fair sample of David's faithful subjects, had so great a respect for the king's wishes, that no prospect of reward would have tempted him to lay violent hands on Absalom. But Joab's stern sense of public duty, which satisfied him that there could be neither safety to the king, nor peace to the kingdom, nor security to him and other loyal subjects, so long as that turbulent prince lived, overcame his sensibilities, and looking upon the charge given to the generals as more befitting a parent than a prince, he ventured to disobey it.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Either, first, I should have been guilty of false and perfidious dealing against the king’s express injunction, and that with the manifest hazard of my own life. Or, secondly I should have betrayed my own life. I should not only have deceived myself with false hopes, either of concealing my fact from the king, or of obtaining a reward, yea, or a pardon, from him or thee for it; but also have destroyed myself thereby, and laid a plot against my own life.

There is no matter hid from the king; this, as all other things, would certainly come to the king’s ear.

Thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me; thou wouldst have been my adversary and accuser; partly because it was thy duty to be so; and partly to vindicate thyself by casting the blame upon another. Or, thou wouldst have stood afar off, as this phrase is used, Psalm 38:11. Thou wouldst not have stood to me to intercede for my life or reward, but wouldst keep at a distance from me.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life,.... Or "soul"; he should not only have exposed his life to danger, but acted falsely to the king, by going contrary to his orders; yea, would have done that which was contrary to his own conscience; and if he had buoyed himself up with the hope of impunity, or of a reward, he should have found himself mistaken; the textual reading is, "against his life" (l), or "soul", the life of Absalom, by taking it away:

for there is no matter hid from the king; this, though done ever so secretly, would have come to his knowledge by some means or another, and then I should have incurred his displeasure, and suffered for it:

and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me; to accuse and bring him to justice; he would have been so far from protecting him, that he would have been the first man that would have insisted on it that he should be punished for it; or why dost not thou thyself set thyself against him, and smite him? thou mayest if thou pleasest, yonder he hangs, go and smite him.

(l) , Sept. "contra animam illius", Piscator.

Geneva Study Bible

Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life] I should not only have disobeyed the king, but have been false to my own interest and forfeited my life. The Kthîbh reads his life, thus: Or if I had dealt deceitfully against his life, there is nothing hid, &c.: i.e., if I had treacherously slain him contrary to the king’s command, it would certainly have come to the king’s ears, and I should have been put to death. The Sept. has a different reading, connecting the first clause of 2 Samuel 18:13 with 2 Samuel 18:14, thus: “Take care of the young man Absalom for my sake, that ye do no harm against his life: and there is no matter hid,” &c.

wouldest have set thyself against me] Wouldest have taken part against me with the king. The man was well aware of Joab’s unscrupulous character.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - Against mine own life. Again the K'tib is better: "Or had I wrought perfidiously against his life - and nothing is hidden from the king - so wouldst thou have set thyself against me." Not only was the man faithful to the king, but he was perfectly aware of Joab's unscrupulous character. If only Absalom were put out of the way, Joab would have readily consented to the execution of the unimportant person who had been the means of gratifying his wish. 2 Samuel 18:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

But the man replied, "And I ... not weighing a thousand shekels in my hand ... might not stretch out my hand to the king's son," i.e., I could not do it for a reward of a thousand shekels. This is the meaning of the Chethib ולא; the Masoretes, on the other hand, have substituted ולוּ, which is the reading adopted in most of the ancient versions, and the one preferred by the majority of expositors: "if I weighed ... I would not," etc. But there is no necessity for this alteration, as the Chethib is quite in accordance with the character of the words. "For before our ears the king commanded" (cf. 2 Samuel 18:5): מי שׁמרוּ, "take care whoever (it be) of the boy Absalom." On this use of מי, see Ewald, 104, d., a. The Keri לי is merely a conjecture, notwithstanding the fact that all the versions follow it, and that one of the Codices in Kennicott has לי. "or," continued the man (2 Samuel 18:13), "should I have acted deceitfully towards his life (i.e., have slain him secretly, which he calls שׁקר, cheating, because it was opposed to the king's open command): and nothing remains hidden from the king; ... thou wouldst have set thyself in opposition to me," i.e., have risen up against me before the king. The middle clause is a circumstantial one, as the fact that וכל־דּבר is placed first clearly shows; so that it cannot be regarded as introducing the apodosis, which really follows in the clause commencing with ואתּה.