What Does 2 Samuel 15:4 Mean?
Absalom also said, Oh that I were set as judge in the land, so that every man who had a quarrel and a judgment might come to me, and I would do him justice!
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
Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!THE KEY
The name Absalom (אַבְשָׁלוֹם, Avshalom: “father of wholeness”) echoes his offer to set each claimant right, while the offer itself centers him as the judge.
THE MEANING
Every grievance draws us toward whoever seems ready to hear it. Absalom says each person with a case can come directly to him, and he will declare that person right. A promise of justice can gather trust around the one who wants the authority to decide.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that someone who promises to hear everyone’s case is therefore committed to justice.
THE ROOT
שֹׁפֵט
shofet
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-p-t
To judge, decide a claim, or render a ruling.
Behind the English distinction between a judge and a judgment, שפט (sh-p-t) gathers both into the act of deciding a claim. Absalom promises access to that whole process through himself, so the judge’s seat can appear identical to justice.
ALSO GROWS
shofet: Judge; one who decides a claim.
שֹׁפֵט
This is the role Absalom wishes to hold.
mishpat: Judgment, case, or right order.
מִשְׁפָּט
This word appears in the same verse for the people’s causes, joining the claim and its judgment to the judge’s role.
וְהִצְדַּקְתִּיו
we-hitzdaqtiv
GROWS FROM
צדק
ts-d-q
To be right or in the right; to bring into alignment.
“do him justice” in this verse is we-hitzdaqtiv. The Hebrew verb carries the sense of declaring someone right, from the same root that yields words for rightness and justice. Absalom promises to bring each person’s case into alignment, presenting himself as the one who can set it right.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Rightness or alignment.
צֶדֶק
It shows the underlying idea in Absalom’s promise: a case is brought into what is right.
tsedaqah: Justice or rightness in action.
צְדָקָה
It extends the root’s idea from being right to justice enacted for people.
THE PATTERN
Access to a ruler can win allegiance, but the truth of the offer appears in what the ruler does with the people’s burdens.
And in this manner Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.And they spoke to him, saying, If you will be a servant to this people this day, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants for the ages.For they tie up heavy loads, hard to lift, and lay them on the shoulders of people, but they themselves will not move them, even with one of their fingers.THE THREAD
The LORD makes alignment and judgment for all who are pressed.The psalm names צְדָקָה (tsedaqah, justice or alignment) and מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, judgment), roots present in Absalom’s promise. Here those words take visible shape as justice enacted for the oppressed, giving a measure for the offer made in this verse.
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