What Does 2 Kings 7:8 Mean?
And when these stricken men came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried from there silver, and gold, and garments, and went and hid it. And they came back, and entered another tent, and carried from there also, and went and hid it.
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 when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.THE KEY
What answers hunger is immediately carried away and hidden, turning discovery into the first step of concealment.
THE MEANING
Hunger meets provision here: they eat and drink, then carry away silver, gold, and clothing and hide it. The act happens twice, placing the relief of finding abundance beside the choice to put it out of sight.
THE ROOT
וַיַּטְמִנוּ
wayyatminu
GROWS FROM
טמן
To hide, bury, or conceal.
“hid” in this verse is wayyatminu. The Hebrew verb appears twice, each time after valuables are carried away. A related noun for a hidden hoard shows the link English obscures: what is hidden is named in the language of treasure.
ALSO GROWS
matmon: Hidden treasure or hoard.
מַטְמוֹן
The related word joins concealment with stored value, echoing the silver and gold hidden here.
tamun: Hidden or concealed.
טָמוּן
This form describes what has been put out of sight, the repeated result of the men’s actions.
THE PATTERN
Hidden value moves between concealment and discovery: it is sought, found, or brought into the light.
If you seek her as silver, and dig for her as for hidden treasure.He binds the seeping of the rivers, and brings the hidden out to the light.Again, the governance of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in a field, which, when a man has found, he hides; and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.THE THREAD
If you seek her as silver, and dig for her as for hidden treasure.The phrase “hid treasures” uses מַטְמוֹנִים (matmonim), “hidden treasures,” from the same טמן (t-m-n) root as “hid” here. The men conceal silver and gold; Proverbs uses the same root family to picture wisdom as something hidden and worth seeking.
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