What Does 2 Kings 6:26 Mean?
As the king of Israel was passing along the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, Deliver, my lord, O king!
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 as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.THE KEY
The Hebrew word translated “Help” is a plea for deliverance, being brought out of distress.
THE MEANING
This verse meets the reader at the instant distress exceeds what can be borne alone: need becomes a direct cry to the authority nearest at hand. The Hebrew plea asks for deliverance, for being brought out of danger, while the verse leaves the answer unresolved.
THE ROOT
הוֹשִׁיעָה
hôšîʿâ
GROWS FROM
י־ש־ע
To deliver or bring out of danger.
“Deliver” in this verse is hôšîʿâ. The cry uses the same root that names deliverance itself: it asks to be brought out of danger, not merely given something within it. The verb keeps the movement visible, from constriction toward room to live, even before the verse tells whether rescue comes.
ALSO GROWS
yeshuah: Deliverance, rescue.
יְשׁוּעָה
It names the rescue the woman is asking the king to enact.
moshia: One who delivers or rescues.
מוֹשִׁיעַ
This branch names the one who brings someone out, the answering side of the woman’s plea.
THE PATTERN
When need exceeds a person’s power, the cry for deliverance is directed toward an authority who can act.
In my narrow place I call out to the LORD, and I cry out to my God. From his temple he hears and answers my voice, and my cry comes into his ears.Then she came and bowed down before him, saying, Lord, help me.THE THREAD
To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. Deliver, LORD, for the one held in faithful love comes to an end; for the steady ones vanish from among the children of humankind.“Help” in both verses comes from the Hebrew root י־ש־ע (y-š-ʿ, yasha), the root of deliverance. Psalm 12:1 gives that same cry to the LORD; here, a woman gives it to the king within reach.
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