And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

And when the woman of Thecua was come in to the king, she fell before him upon the ground, and worshipped, and said: Save me, O king.

And the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, and she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, Save, O king!

And the woman of Tekoah speaketh unto the king, and falleth on her face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and saith, 'Save, O king.'

And the woman of Tekoa came to the king, and falling on her face, gave him honour and said, Give me help, O king.

And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and prostrated herself, and said: 'Help, O king.'

And the woman of Tekoa went to the king, and she bowed down with her face to the ground, and showed respect, and said, 'Help, O king.'

And so, when the woman of Tekoa had entered to the king, she fell before him on the ground, and she reverenced, and she said, "Save me, O king."

Spake - Seems to be an accidental error for came, which is found in many manuscipts and versions.
Help - literally, save (see the margin). It is the same cry as Hosanna, i. e. save now Psalm 118:25.

And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king,.... Or after she had spoken to him, being introduced by Joab, as is probable; when she had saluted him with God save the king, or May the king live, or some such like expressions:
she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance; to him as her king, in reverence of his majesty:
and said, help, O king; signifying that she was in great distress, and came to him for assistance and deliverance.

The woman did this. All the old translators have given as the rendering of האשּׁה ותּאמר "the woman came (went) to the king," as if they had read ותּבא. This reading is actually found in some thirty Codd. of De Rossi, and is therefore regarded by Thenius and the majority of critics as the original one. But Bttcher has very justly urged, in opposition to this, that ותּאמר cannot possibly be an accidental corruption of ותבא, and that it is still less likely that such an alteration should have been intentionally made. But this remark, which is correct enough in itself, cannot sustain the conjecture which Bttcher has founded upon it, namely that two whole lines have dropt out of the Hebrew text, containing the answer which the woman of Tekoah gave to Joab before she went to the king, since there is not one of the ancient versions which contains a single word more than the Masoretic text. Consequently we must regard ותּאמר as the original reading, and interpret it as a hysteron-proteron, which arose from the fact that the historian was about to relate at once what the woman said to the king, but thought it desirable to mention her falling down at the feet of the king before giving her actual words, "Help, O king," which he introduces by repeating the word ותּאמר.