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.
And the woman said, 'Why then have you planned such a thing against God's people? By saying what you just said, the king has condemned himself, because the king refuses to bring back his own banished son.'
The wise woman is pointing out that King David has condemned himself by his own words - if he believes her fictional son should be forgiven and brought home, then he should do the same for his own banished son Absalom.
📚 Historical Context
This is part of a clever plan by Joab, David's military commander, to convince King David to reconcile with his son Absalom, who had been banished for killing his brother Amnon. Joab enlisted a wise woman from Tekoa to tell David a fictional story about her two sons, one who killed the other, to make David see the parallel with his own situation.
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