What Does 1 Chronicles 20:7 Mean?
But when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother slew him.THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “defied” also means “reproached”: the taunt is a public affront, and the verse gives its answer in a killing.
THE MEANING
A taunt aimed at a people is answered here with a killing, and both the insult and the violence remain fully visible. The killer is named as Yehonatan (יְהוֹנָתָן, “YHWH has given”) and identified through Dawid (דָּוִד, “beloved”); those names stand beside the act without softening it.
THE ROOT
חֵרֵף
ḥērēph
GROWS FROM
חרף
To reproach, revile, or taunt.
“taunted” in this verse is ḥērēph. The root holds “defy” together with “reproach” and “disgrace.” English “defied” can sound like a challenge alone; the Hebrew also carries the force of publicly insulting the people named.
ALSO GROWS
cherpah: Reproach or disgrace.
חֶרְפָּה
This noun shows the shame carried by the act of taunting.
mecharef: One who reproaches or taunts.
מְחָרֵף
The taunt in this verse is not an abstract challenge; it has a speaker who directs reproach at Israel.
וַיַּכֵּהוּ
vayyakkēhu
GROWS FROM
נכה
To strike or smite.
“struck him down” in this verse is vayyakkēhu. The Hebrew verb is built on “strike,” rendered “slew” because the blow is fatal here. The root keeps the violence bodily and explicit.
ALSO GROWS
nakah: To strike or smite.
נָכָה
This is the verbal root beneath the killing described in the verse.
makkah: A blow, wound, or plague.
מַכָּה
The related noun preserves the concrete force of a strike.
יְהוֹנָתָן
Yehonatan
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place; the name means “YHWH has given.”
“Jonathan” in this verse is Yehonatan. Yehonatan’s name carries “YHWH has given,” while the verse names him as the one who kills the taunter. It identifies him through Dawid (דָּוִד, Dawid), whose name carries “beloved”; the names remain part of the sentence’s account of violence and kinship.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This verb carries the meaning compressed into Yehonatan’s name.
mattan: A gift or present.
מַתָּן
This related word shows the same root’s connection to what is given.
THE PATTERN
The Hebrew root for defying also names reproach, so a taunt becomes a public affront against the people or name it targets.
And the Philistine said, I taunt the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, and let us fight together.How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy spurn your name for the ages?Whom have you taunted and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Set-Apart One of Israel.THE THREAD
And the Philistine said, I taunt the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, and let us fight together.“Defied” here and “defy” there come from the same root, חרף, which also names reproach. The shared word reveals the public insult inside the challenge.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us