What Does 2 Kings 25:6 Mean?
So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they spoke judgments upon him.
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
So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.THE KEY
In Hebrew, the verdict enters as spoken words in a direct encounter: they speak judgment with the king.
THE MEANING
The verse places the reader where authority changes hands: a king is brought before another ruler, and judgment is spoken directly to him. Rank does not keep anyone from becoming the one who hears the verdict.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that rank makes a person unreachable by judgment.
THE ROOT
מִשְׁפָּט
mishpat
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-p-t
To judge, decide, or govern; to render a judgment.
“spoke judgments upon him” in this verse is mishpat. מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) belongs to the same root as judging and governing. Here, the king who holds authority becomes the one receiving a verdict.
ALSO GROWS
shaphat: To judge or decide.
שָׁפַט
The judgment in this verse is an act of deciding directed at the king.
shofet: A judge or ruler.
שֹׁפֵט
This branch links judgment with authority, placing the king himself within the reach of a ruling.
וַיְדַבְּרוּ
waydabbərū
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; as a noun, a word or matter.
“spoke judgments upon him” in this verse is waydabbərū. The Hebrew verb means “they spoke,” and it shares its root with דָּבָר (davar), “word” or “matter.” Judgment arrives here as speech addressed to the king in a direct encounter.
ALSO GROWS
davar: A word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
The verdict is a matter put into words and brought before the king.
dibber: He spoke.
דִּבֵּר
This verb shares the seed of the verse’s “they spoke,” making the judgment a spoken act.
THE PATTERN
Human authority remains answerable within a judgment higher than itself.
A Psalm of Asaph. God stands in the assembly of the Mighty One; in the midst of the gods he judges.The LORD will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and with his princes. For you have burned the vineyard, and what was torn away from the bowed one is in your houses.For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.THE THREAD
The LORD will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and with his princes. For you have burned the vineyard, and what was torn away from the bowed one is in your houses.Both verses use מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, judgment), from the root שפט (sh-p-t). Isaiah likewise places rulers directly within judgment, showing that rank does not remove them from its reach.
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