2 Samuel 14:9

2Sa 14:9 And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity [be] on me, and on my father’s house: and the king and his throne [be] guiltless.

Ver. 9. The iniquity be on me,] q.d., I am so confident of my surviving son’s innocency, that I doubt not to take the blame upon myself, and dare be bold to say, that you and yours shall sustain no prejudice by favouring my cause, and protecting my child. See the like expressions in Gen 27:13 Mat 27:25.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:9 If you are criticized: If David allowed a murder to go unavenged, he would be liable for not carrying out justice and would likely draw criticism.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, innocent.

As touching the breach of the Law which punisheth blood, let me bear the blame.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the woman said . . . O king, the iniquity be on me--that is, the iniquity of arresting the course of justice and pardoning a homicide, whom the Goel was bound to slay wherever he might find him, unless in a city of refuge. This was exceeding the royal prerogative, and acting in the character of an absolute monarch. The woman's language refers to a common precaution taken by the Hebrew judges and magistrates, solemnly to transfer from themselves the responsibility of the blood they doomed to be shed, either to the accusers or the criminals (Sa2 1:16; Sa2 3:28); and sometimes the accusers took it upon themselves (Mat 27:25).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. The iniquity be on me] She intimates that, if the king should suppose that the not bringing the offender to the assigned punishment might reflect on the administration of justice in the land, she was willing that all blame should attach to her and her family, and the king and his throne be guiltless.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) The iniquity be on me—i.e., if there be any wrong in thus condoning blood-guiltiness, let the responsibility rest on me. Although the king has granted her request, the woman seeks to prolong the interview that she may lead him to commit himself more completely.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. the iniquity be on me, &c.] If there is any guilt in thus leaving bloodshed unavenged, may I and my family bear the punishment. She wishes to lead the king up to a more definite promise, before she applies her parable to the case of Absalom.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, my lord and king,.... With much vehemence, and yet with great respect, fearing an inquisition into her case; which it would not bear, being a fable, and being very desirous of having sentence on it immediately pronounced:

the iniquity be on me and on my father's house; let the crime be imputed to me and my family, and punishment inflicted on us for it, if I have misrepresented the case, told lies, and deceived the king:

and the king and his throne be guiltless; let neither he nor his kingdom be charged with any sin, or suffer any damage on that account: or else the sense is, supposing that the king through much business should forget and neglect this affair; and her son should be put to death, through the violence and rage of the family; then she wishes that the fault and punishment of such neglect might not fall upon the king and his kingdom, but upon her and her family: in this form she put it, for the honour of the king, and because she would not be thought to wish ill to him and his kingdom; yet tacitly suggests, that should this be the case, he and his kingdom must expect to answer and suffer for it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The iniquity be on me ... - Compare the principle in Gen 9:5-6; Num 35:30-34. The woman therefore says, if there is any such guilt in sparing my son, may it rest upon me and my house, not on David and his throne. Compare 2Sa 3:28. The cunning speech of the woman extracted a more direct promise of protection from the king 2Sa 14:1.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Guiltless, if the murderer be not brought to execution. I am willing to bear all the blame and punishment. (Calmet) --- Abigail and Rebecca speak in the same manner, 1 Kings xxv. 24., and Genesis xxvii. 13. (Tirinus) --- Though kings may not pardon as they please, yet in this instance David might protect the widow’s son, as there was no witness to prove that he had committed the murder. (Menochius) --- The woman was not satisfied with the former promise. She wished to extort something more decisive. She intimates that the danger is pressing, and if any misfortune should arrive, she cannot impute it to the king, (Calmet) which gives him occasion to encourage her the more. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The sense is, either, first, this, If I do not inform thee aright, and thou thereby be drawn to give an unrighteous sentence on my behalf, I am willing to bear the whole blame of it before God, and men; I acknowledge thou art wholly innocent in the case. Compare Gen 27:13. Or, secondly, this, If through thy forgetfulness or neglect of this my just cause, my adversaries prevail and destroy my son, my desire is, that God would not lay it to the king’s charge, but rather to me and mine, so the king may be exempted thereby. Whereby she both insinuates her great esteem of and affection for the king, thereby winning upon him to compass her design; and withal implies that such an omission of the king’s will bring guilt upon him; and yet most prudently and decently orders her phrase so as not to seem to blame or threaten the king. Compare Exo 5:16; 2Sa 20:16. This sense seems best to agree with David’s answer, which shows that she desired some further assurance of the king’s care and justice in her concern.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The iniquity be on me. The king had given a general promise to help the widow, but she wants to lead him on to a definite assurance that her son shall be pardoned. Less than this would not help Absalom"s case. Instead, therefore, of withdrawing, she represents herself as dissatisfied, and pleads for full forgiveness; and as this would be a violation of the letter of the Levitical Law, in order to remove David"s supposed scruples, she takes upon herself the penalty.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Be guiltless - If through thy forgetfulness or neglect of this my just cause, my adversaries prevail and destroy my son, my desire is, that God would not lay it to the king's charge, but rather to me and mine, so the king may be exempted thereby. Whereby she insinuates, that such an omission will bring guilt upon him; and yet most decently orders her phrase so as not to seem to blame or threaten the king. This sense seems best to agree with David's answer, which shew's that she desired some farther assurances of the king's care.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

My master the king, the sin is upon me. This is euphemistic for [the sake of] his honour in other words, "You are rebutting me [by] saying, 'I will command [someone] concerning you,' I will [then] go on my way and you will not command [anyone] concerning me, and my son will get murdered. Upon who is this sin?"

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.