Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Samuel 13:39

"And [the soul of] king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead." — 2 Samuel 13:39 (ASV)

The soul of King David. —The words, "the soul of," are not in the original, and the most opposite interpretations have been given of the rest of the sentence. The sense of the English version is that of the Chaldee and of the Jewish commentators—that David, after his grief for Amnon had abated, longed for Absalom and pined for his return.

But it may be objected to this view:

1. That there is no ground for supplying the ellipsis in this way;
2. That the verb (which is a common one) never elsewhere has the sense given to it;
3. That the representation thus made is contrary to fact, since David could easily have recalled Absalom if he had chosen to do so, and when Absalom actually was brought back through Joab’s stratagem, the king refused to see him (2 Samuel 14:24), and only after two more years (2 Samuel 14:28) reluctantly admitted him to his presence.

The other interpretation is better, which takes the verb impersonally, and gives the sense, David desisted from going forth against Absalom. He ought to have arrested and punished him for a murder, which was at once fratricide and high treason, as being the assassination of the heir-apparent; but the flight to Geshur made this difficult, and as time went by David was comforted concerning Amnon, and gradually gave up the thought of punishing Absalom.