What Does 2 Samuel 10:5 Mean?
When they told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Settle at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then turn back.
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
When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.THE KEY
The men’s return is timed to the regrowth of the beard, the visible sign of dignity their humiliation had stripped away.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to the exposed moment after humiliation, when return still feels too raw. The men have a place to stay while their beards regrow, and their return comes afterward; the interval itself belongs to the restoration. Shame is real, but it does not set an immediate deadline for reappearing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that humiliation permanently closes the door to return. The verse allows visible dignity to regrow before re-entry.
THE ROOT
זְקַנְכֶם
zeqan-khem
GROWS FROM
זקן
z-q-n
To grow old, to be advanced in age.
“beards” in this verse is zeqan-khem. The Hebrew words for beard and elder share the root זקן (z-q-n, age). The beard carries more than a cosmetic detail: its regrowth marks time passing and a visible sign of maturity returning before the men re-enter public life.
ALSO GROWS
zaqēn: Elder; old man.
זָקֵן
The shared root ties the beard to age and maturity, giving the regrowth significance beyond appearance.
ziqnāh: Old age.
זִקְנָה
This branch names a stage of life from the same root; the verse makes the passing of time part of the men’s return.
נִכְלָמִים
nikhlāmîm
GROWS FROM
כלם
k-l-m
To wound through reproach or humiliation; in this form, to be disgraced or put to shame.
“greatly ashamed” in this verse is nikhlāmîm. The Hebrew carries not only private embarrassment but reproach and disgrace. The verse names the men’s public humiliation, then gives them an interval before they return to face others.
ALSO GROWS
kelimmāh: Shame, disgrace, reproach.
כְּלִמָּה
This noun makes the public weight of the men’s humiliation visible in the same word-family.
hikhlîm: To put someone to shame.
הִכְלִים
This form shows shame as something inflicted; the verse answers that exposure by delaying the men’s return.
וַיִּשְׁלַח
wayyishlaḥ
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
To send forth, release, or stretch out.
“sent” in this verse is wayyishlaḥ. The action begins with a sending toward the humiliated men, before their return is expected. This root holds sending forth and release together: care reaches them while they are given space from immediate re-entry.
ALSO GROWS
shilluaḥ: A sending away; release or dismissal.
שִׁלּוּחַ
This branch illuminates the interval in which the men are released from the pressure to return at once.
Shiloach: Sent forth; the name of the pool glossed as “Sent” in John 9:7.
שִׁלֹחַ
The same word-family names waters sent forth; here, a messenger is sent toward the men before they return.
THE PATTERN
Restoration gives the shamed a protected route back into belonging instead of letting humiliation bar the return.
Instead of your shame you shall have double, and in their disgrace they shall shout over their portion; therefore in their land they shall possess double, the joy of the ages shall be theirs.And he rose and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and his inward parts were moved, and he ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him.For the writing says, Everyone who leans their full weight on him will not be put to shame.THE THREAD
Let not the crushed one turn back ashamed; let the bowed ones and those in want praise your name.Both verses pair return, שׁוּב (shuv, “turn back; return”), with shame from כלם (k-l-m, “disgrace; humiliate”). The psalm asks that the oppressed not return humiliated; here, the shamed men are given a place and time before they come back.
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