What Does 1 Kings 20:34 Mean?
And Ben-hadad said to him, The cities, which my father took from your father, I will turn back; and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send you away with this covenant. So he cut a covenant with him, and sent him away.
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
And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.THE KEY
Ahab’s covenant pairs the return of what was taken with the release of the one who took it.
THE MEANING
The settlement binds the cities’ return to Ben-hadad’s departure. Ahab’s covenant gives both outcomes a public form, placing the release in Ahab’s hands. The verse holds restoration and release together in one agreement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that restitution settles only property; this covenant also determines who is released and on whose terms.
THE ROOT
אֲשַׁלְּחֶךָ
ʾashalleḥekha
GROWS FROM
שׁלח
shalach
Send, send forth; in this wording, release or let go.
“send thee away” in this verse is ʾashalleḥekha. The same verb frames Ahab’s promise to send Ben-hadad away and the verse’s closing report that he does so. Shalach can also carry the sense of release, making the departure the covenant’s enacted consequence.
ALSO GROWS
shaliach: Messenger, one who is sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
A messenger carries the root’s sense of being sent forth into a person’s role.
shilluach: Sending away, dismissal.
שִׁלּוּחַ
This form makes the release or dismissal sense explicit in the departure described here.
אָשִׁיב
ashiv
GROWS FROM
שׁוב
shuv
Turn back, return.
“turn back” in this verse is ashiv. The root holds both turning and returning, so “restore” carries movement back toward what was taken. The cities’ return is the material part of the settlement, paired with sending the taker away.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Turn back, return.
שׁוּב
The root itself shows restoration as a movement of return.
teshuvah: Return, turning.
תְּשׁוּבָה
This related form keeps return and turning joined, illuminating the movement inside “restore.”
וַיִּכְרָת לוֹ בְּרִית
vayikhrat lo berit
GROWS FROM
כרת
karat
Cut, cut off.
The Hebrew expression for making a covenant is literally “cut a covenant,” giving the agreement a concrete, decisive edge. Here, the act is immediately followed by its outcome: Ben-hadad is sent away.
ALSO GROWS
karat: Cut; in the expression כרת ברית, cut a covenant.
כָּרַת
This is the verb used here, showing the covenant as an act rather than a vague intention.
keritut: Divorce, certificate of divorce.
כְּרִיתוּת
This related form carries the root into the ending of a bond, adding depth to the verse’s use of covenant to settle a separation.
THE PATTERN
Release changes who remains under another’s hold.
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told the Great House, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may dance a feast to me in the wilderness.This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to proclaim a release to them.So if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free.THE THREAD
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told the Great House, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may dance a feast to me in the wilderness.Exodus uses the same Hebrew root שׁלח (shalach, send or release) in the demand, “Let my people go.” Together, the verses show one root holding both a king’s departure under covenant and a people’s release from bondage.
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