What Does 2 Samuel 11:2 Mean?
And it came to pass in the evening, that David rose from his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very good to look upon.
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 it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.THE KEY
The Hebrew echoes the same seeing-root in “he saw” and “appearance,” joining the gaze to what is visible.
THE MEANING
The scene meets you at the turn from movement to sight: David walks onto the roof, sees a woman washing, and her appearance is described as exceedingly good. The verse gives you this visible moment, while her own thoughts and awareness remain unstated.
THE ROOT
וַיַּרְא
wayyar’
GROWS FROM
ראה
see, look, perceive
The verse uses וַיַּרְא (wayyar’, “he saw”) and טוֹבַת מַרְאֶה (tovat mar’eh, “good of appearance”); the second phrase carries the same seeing-root inside the description of her looks. Hebrew joins the gaze to the appearance it registers, while the text leaves what lies beyond that visible layer unstated.
ALSO GROWS
mar’eh: Appearance; what is seen
מַרְאֶה
This noun appears in the verse’s description of the woman, repeating the seeing-root within the word for appearance.
ro’eh: One who sees; a seer
רֹאֶה
It names the one who sees, linking the act of seeing to the perceiver.
THE PATTERN
Sight presents the visible surface, while the heart and unseen dimensions remain beyond that first view.
But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.And the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.While we do not fix our eyes on the things seen, but on the unseen; for the things seen are for a season, but the unseen are of the ages.THE THREAD
And the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.Genesis 3:6 joins רָאָה (ra’ah, “see”) with טוֹב (tov, “good”) as the woman sees that the tree is good. Here, the same word-family appears inside מַרְאֶה (mar’eh, “appearance”), braiding sight and the appraisal of what is seen in both verses.
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