What Does 2 Samuel 18:31 Mean?
And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Let good news be brought to my lord the king, for the LORD has judged for you this day from the hand of all who rise against 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, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.THE KEY
The Hebrew verb behind “avenged” carries the force of judgment, so the report presents the king’s vindication as a verdict against those who rose up.
THE MEANING
The verse gives you a report of opposition brought to a reckoning: those who rose against the king are answered by the LORD. It names that answer as vengeance and places it in this day.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a rising opposition has the final word is undone: the verse names the LORD’s judgment as its answer.
THE ROOT
שְׁפָטְךָ
shefatkha
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-p-t
To judge, decide a case, or govern.
“judged for” in this verse is shefatkha. The KJV’s “avenged” carries the texture of a judicial verdict: the Hebrew verb comes from the root for judging and deciding a case. That same root yields words for a judge and for judgment, so the report presents the uprising’s outcome as a verdict pronounced by the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
shofet: Judge
שֹׁפֵט
This branch names the one who weighs a case, bringing out the judicial force beneath the report of vengeance.
mishpat: Judgment, justice
מִשְׁפָּט
This branch names the verdict or order that settles a case, showing how the king’s vindication is framed as judgment.
הַקָּמִים
ha-qamim
GROWS FROM
קום
To stand or rise.
“rise against” in this verse is ha-qamim. Those who oppose the king are literally described through the language of standing up or rising. The sentence sets that rising against the LORD’s judgment: the rebels’ posture does not determine the final outcome.
ALSO GROWS
qam: Arose, stood
קָם
This form makes the physical force of rising visible in the phrase about those who rose against the king.
maqom: Place, standing place
מָקוֹם
This related word for place carries the root’s sense of standing, extending the same seed from rising into where something stands.
יִתְבַּשֵּׂר
yitbasser
GROWS FROM
בשר
To announce or bring news.
“Let good news be brought” in this verse is yitbasser. The announcement belongs to a root used for bringing good news. Cushi’s words are not detached information: they proclaim the king’s vindication as news.
ALSO GROWS
besorah: Good news, tidings
בְּשׂוֹרָה
This noun makes the news-bearing sense of Cushi’s announcement explicit.
mevaser: Herald, bearer of news
מְבַשֵּׂר
This branch names the one who carries an announcement, illuminating Cushi’s role in the verse.
THE PATTERN
When opposition rises, scripture presents divine judgment as the answer that determines the outcome.
To me belongs vengeance, and repayment. At its appointed time their foot slips, for the day of their falling is near, and what is readied comes hurrying upon them.O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth.Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but give room to wrath. For it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will give back, says the LORD.THE THREAD
Let the LORD judge between me and you, and let the LORD avenge me of you, but my hand shall not be upon you.One verse asks the LORD to judge between adversaries while the speaker holds back his own hand; the other announces that the LORD has judged those who rose against the king. The shared root שפט (sh-p-t) joins restraint and reckoning in one movement.
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