2 Samuel 19 4

2 Samuel 19:4 kjv

But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

2 Samuel 19:4 nkjv

But the king covered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, "O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!"

2 Samuel 19:4 niv

The king covered his face and cried aloud, "O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!"

2 Samuel 19:4 esv

The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, "O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

2 Samuel 19:4 nlt

The king covered his face with his hands and kept on crying, "O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!"

2 Samuel 19 verses

2 Samuel 19 4 Meaning

King David, immediately upon learning of Absalom's death, secluded himself in overwhelming grief, covering his face as a sign of deep sorrow and distress. He cried out in an agonizing, loud voice, repeatedly lamenting, "O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!" This demonstrated the profound parental love and sorrow that superseded the military victory and the king's public duty.

2 Samuel 19 4 Context

This verse occurs immediately after Absalom's rebellion has been decisively crushed, and Absalom himself has been killed, directly defying David's clear command to his generals to spare his son (2 Sam 18:5). The preceding verses (2 Sam 19:1-3) describe how David received the news of Absalom's death and retreated in overwhelming sorrow, which significantly demoralized his victorious troops as they returned from battle. Historically, the narrative of 2 Samuel continually highlights King David's complex life, marked by both great divinely blessed triumphs and profound personal failures and consequences, particularly those stemming from his sin with Bathsheba (2 Sam 11-12) and the resulting prophecy concerning ongoing internal strife within his own family (2 Sam 12:10). David's intense, deeply personal grief over Absalom's death here stands in stark contrast to the national celebration of victory, vividly revealing the deep agony of a father who had lost a beloved, albeit rebellious and treacherous, son.

2 Samuel 19 4 Word analysis

• "But" (וְ / v'): This conjunction introduces a strong contrast. It abruptly shifts the narrative focus from the army's anticipation of joyous victory to the king's profound, personal sorrow, implying a reaction unexpected amidst such triumph.
• "the king" (הַמֶּלֶךְ / ha-melekh): Refers to David. The use of his royal title here emphasizes the tragic disconnect between his public role as victorious monarch and his private agony as a grieving father.
• "had covered his face" (לָט אֶת־פָּנָיו / lat et-panav): The Hebrew verb lat (לוּט) signifies to wrap, conceal, or cover. This action is a conventional sign of deep mourning, humiliation, shame, or despair in the ancient Near East, signifying a profound, overwhelming inner distress and withdrawal from public view.
• "and the king cried" (וַיִּזְעַק הַמֶּלֶךְ / vayyiz'aq ha-melekh): The verb za'aq (זָעַק) denotes a loud, often public cry or scream, typically indicating intense anguish, distress, or a desperate plea for help. This was an unsuppressed outburst of pain, audible and powerful.
• "with a loud voice" (קוֹל גָּדוֹל / kol gadol): Literally translated as "a great voice." This phrase explicitly emphasizes the intensity and volume of David's lament, further underscoring the depth of his uncontrollable anguish rather than a restrained, regal display of emotion.
• "'O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!'" (בְּנִי אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּנִי בְנִי אַבְשָׁלוֹם / b'ni Avshalom, b'ni Avshalom, b'ni, b'ni): The powerful repetition of "my son" (b'ni), especially the threefold reiteration, profoundly conveys David's overwhelming paternal love and consuming grief. This fervent plea underscores his deep personal connection to Absalom, a brokenness that transcends Absalom's rebellion and wicked acts. It is an expression of deep sorrow, perhaps mixed with guilt or regret for what has transpired.
• Words-group by words-group analysis:
  • "But the king had covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice": This phrase paints a dramatic picture of profound internal anguish manifesting in outward, public despair. It starkly contrasts David's individual sorrow with the collective jubilation, setting the immediate stage for Joab's subsequent rebuke and highlighting the heavy personal cost of the recent events.
  • "'O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!'": This highly emotional and repetitive lament encapsulates the intense paternal agony that grips David. It signifies a father's heart shattered by loss, an uncontrollable outburst of love for a child even when that child has brought immense suffering and chaos, indicating a broken spirit grappling with tragedy and perhaps unfulfilled hopes.

2 Samuel 19 4 Bonus section

This poignant lament for Absalom resonates with David's earlier elegies for Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam 1:17-27) and for the infant son born of Bathsheba (2 Sam 12:15-23), illustrating a consistent pattern of profound emotional expression from the king, regardless of whether it's for former enemies, dear friends, or family. The dramatic irony is notable: David, who had steadfastly preserved Saul, his persecutor, could not preserve his own son who sought to overthrow and kill him. This scene vividly reinforces David's portrayal as "a man after God's own heart" (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22), not because he was without fault, but due to the profound depth of his relationships, emotions, and his ultimate reliance on God even amidst profound personal failures and overwhelming grief. The sheer intensity of his lament for Absalom remains one of the Bible's most piercing expressions of paternal anguish, serving as a reminder that God uses and works through imperfect human leaders with their full range of human emotions.

2 Samuel 19 4 Commentary

2 Samuel 19:4 offers a deeply moving portrayal of King David's inconsolable grief at the news of his rebellious son Absalom's death. Despite Absalom's treacherous rebellion and attempts on David's life, David's overwhelming paternal love is revealed as paramount, transforming a moment of national victory into profound personal tragedy for the king. His action of covering his face and the agonizing, repeated cries of "O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!" underscore a level of grief so immense that it supersedes all royal dignity, public decorum, and even the morale of his victorious army. This verse lays bare the human struggle of a divinely appointed leader grappling with the painful, generational consequences of sin—both his own (a fulfillment of Nathan's prophecy in 2 Sam 12:10) and his son's rebellion. It reveals the personal agony often hidden beneath public triumph, thereby setting the stage for Joab's blunt but necessary rebuke in the following verses, which highlights the critical tension between a king's personal feelings and his immediate duties to his kingdom and his people.Examples:

• A parent finding immense sorrow for a child who has rejected them and faced unfortunate consequences.
• The personal cost borne by a leader even after achieving a great success.
• Recognizing the humanity and brokenness of even the greatest figures of faith.