What Does 2 Samuel 13:14 Mean?
But he would not hear and respond to her voice, and, gripping her harder than she, bent her low, and lay with her.
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
Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.THE KEY
The violence begins with his refusal to hear her and culminates in the Hebrew verb for afflicting and violating her.
THE MEANING
The verse keeps her refusal in view as he overpowers her, violates her, and lies with her. It names what happens as violation, so physical contact cannot erase her refusal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the lie that someone’s strength or desire can turn another person’s refusal into consent: force remains violation.
THE ROOT
וַיְעַנֶּהָ
wayeʿanneha
GROWS FROM
ענה
To afflict, oppress, or humble; in this context, to violate.
“bent her low” in this verse is wayeʿanneha. The Hebrew verb carries the broader force of affliction and humiliation beneath “forced.” Here it names sexual violation, so the following words “lay with her” cannot make the act mutual.
ALSO GROWS
ʿinnûy: Affliction, humiliation
עִנּוּי
This noun preserves the harm contained in the verb: the act is something done to her, not shared intimacy.
ʿānî: Afflicted, oppressed; poor
עָנִי
This branch names a person marked by affliction, keeping the root’s connection to vulnerability visible.
לִשְׁמֹעַ
lishmōaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear, listen, and heed; when a plea or command calls for a response, to hear and respond.
“hear and respond” in this verse is lishmōaʿ. Her voice is present, and his refusal to hear it comes before the physical overpowering. The verse marks a chosen refusal, not a failure to notice her.
ALSO GROWS
shāmaʿ: Hear, listen, heed
שָׁמַע
The root’s sense of heeding makes his rejection of her voice part of the violence.
shemuʿāh: Report, news; something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch points back to what is heard: her voice is there, even as he refuses its claim on him.
וַיֶּחֱזַק מִמֶּנָּה
wayyeḥezaq mimmennāh
GROWS FROM
חזק
To be strong, prevail, or hold fast; here, to overpower.
“gripping harder than she” in this verse is wayyeḥezaq mimmennāh. The verse makes the imbalance of force explicit: he prevails over her. This is strength used to take control, not a description of mutual desire.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzāq: Strong, firm
חָזָק
This is the strength named in “being stronger than she,” shown here through its effect on her.
heḥĕzîq: Seized, held fast
הֶחֱזִיק
This form can describe physical force, bringing the root’s sense of strength into the act of taking hold.
THE PATTERN
Sexual intimacy is not made mutual by contact alone: Scripture names coercion as violation and speaks of sexual agreement as mutual consent.
And when Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and bent her low.But if a man finds the pledged young woman in the field, and the man grips her and lies down with her, then the man alone who lay down with her shall die. But to the young woman you shall do nothing. There is no falling short in the young woman worthy of death, for as when a man rises against his neighbor and crushes his living soul, so is this word. For he found her in the field, and the pledged young woman cried out, and there was no one to deliver her.Do not withhold from one another, unless you sound together for a season, so that you may make room for fasting and prayer, and come together again lest the Adversary test you for lack of grip.THE THREAD
And when Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and bent her low.The same root ענה (ʿānāh, “afflict or violate”) names Shechem’s act against Dinah and Amnon’s act here, though the KJV renders the verb differently. That shared root keeps the harm visible beneath the phrase “lay with her”: the verse has already named force.
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