What Does 2 Samuel 14:8 Mean?
And the king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will command concerning you.
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 king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.THE KEY
The king sends the woman home while promising a command concerning her, so leaving his presence does not end his involvement.
THE MEANING
A return to your own place does not by itself mean your case has been dropped. The king sends you home and promises a charge concerning you, so his action reaches beyond the face-to-face appeal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that leaving the room means the matter is abandoned dissolves here: the promised charge is still directed concerning you.
THE ROOT
אֲצַוֶּה
ʾatsavveh
GROWS FROM
צוה
Command, appoint, give charge.
“command” in this verse is ʾatsavveh. David’s promise takes the form of an order he will issue concerning her. The same root yields a mitzvah, a commandment, and a tsav, a directive: his attention is expressed as authority put into words.
ALSO GROWS
mitzvah: Commandment, instruction.
מִצְוָה
It shows that this root can carry a directive beyond the moment it is spoken.
tsav: Command, directive.
צַו
It shares the root’s sense of an order given with authority, illuminating the king’s promised charge.
THE PATTERN
A spoken charge lets authority remain active in a matter after the petitioner leaves.
Guard what I command you this day. Behold, I drive out from your face the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.At that very hour I sent to you; and you have done well in coming alongside. Now, then, we are all here before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by the Lord.THE THREAD
And the king commanded Joab, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Be gentle for my sake toward the young man, even toward Absalom. And all the people heard when the king charged all the captains concerning Absalom.The same root צוה appears in David’s command to his captains, and the KJV repeats “charge concerning”, there, concerning Absalom. The parallel gives the words in 14:8 the shape of a royal directive, though this verse leaves its content unstated.
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