What Does 2 Kings 9:20 Mean?
And the watchman told, saying, He has come right up to them, and he has not turned back. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.
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 the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.THE KEY
The watchman recognizes Jehu by the way he moves: before he arrives, his driving has already disclosed him.
THE MEANING
You see a person become recognizable through the force and pattern of their approach: he does not turn back, and his driving is so particular that the watchman names him. The verse calls that manner “madness,” letting its intensity remain part of what the watcher sees.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
You have to announce who you are before anyone can recognize you.
THE ROOT
שִׁגָּעוֹן
shigga'on
GROWS FROM
שגע
To be mad or act wildly.
“furiously” in this verse is shigga'on. The Hebrew says Jehu drives “in madness,” naming the mode of his motion. The watchman reads that manner as a recognizable signature.
ALSO GROWS
shigga'on: Madness or frenzy.
שִׁגָּעוֹן
This noun names the state that the watchman sees in Jehu’s driving.
meshugga: Mad or deranged.
מְשֻׁגָּע
This related form shows the same root describing a person marked by that wildness.
הַנְהָגָה
hannahagah
GROWS FROM
נהג
To drive, lead, or conduct.
The noun for “driving” and the verb translated “driveth” repeat the root נהג. The same seed can describe leading or conducting, so Jehu’s motion reads as a recognizable way of carrying himself.
ALSO GROWS
nahag: To drive, lead, or conduct.
נָהַג
The verse uses this root again in its verb for how Jehu drives.
minhag: A custom or customary practice.
מִנְהָג
A repeated way of acting becomes recognizable, much as Jehu’s manner of driving identifies him.
הַצֹּפֶה
hatzopheh
GROWS FROM
צפה
To look out, watch, or observe.
The watchman is literally the one looking out. His attention is sharp enough to recognize Jehu from the manner of his approach.
ALSO GROWS
tsopheh: One who watches or looks out.
צֹפֶה
This is the form used for the watchman who identifies the approaching driver.
mitspeh: A lookout or watchtower.
מִצְפֶּה
The related word evokes the vantage point from which an approaching figure can be seen.
THE PATTERN
A person’s way of acting can make them recognizable before they describe themselves.
Even a child is known by his deeds, whether his work is clean, and whether it runs straight.You will know them by their fruits. Do people gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.THE THREAD
I will stand upon my watch, and station myself upon the tower, and I will watch to see what he will say to me, and what I shall return when I am corrected.The “watchman” here and Habakkuk’s “watch” share the root צפה, to look out and observe. In Kings, the watcher’s attention reads a person’s motion; in Habakkuk, it waits to see what will be spoken.
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