What Does 2 Samuel 18:4 Mean?
And the king said to them, What is in your eyes, I will do. And the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.
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 them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate side, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.THE KEY
“Best” here is not the king’s solitary verdict; he commits to what is good in the people’s eyes.
THE MEANING
Your view of what is good can carry weight in shaping action. Authority receives the people’s judgment, then takes its place at the gate as they move out in ordered ranks.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse unsettles the belief that a ruler’s authority means only his own judgment matters.
THE ROOT
יִיטַב
yitav
GROWS FROM
יטב
y-t-b
To be good or go well; in some forms, to do good or benefit.
“best” in this verse is yitav. The Hebrew says, “whatever is good in your eyes,” making the people’s discernment part of the king’s decision. This root family holds goodness as both a quality and an action.
ALSO GROWS
yatab: To be good or go well.
יָטַב
It shows the sense of goodness behind the king’s promise.
heitiv: To do good, deal well, or benefit.
הֵיטִיב
It carries the same root from goodness recognized to goodness enacted.
THE PATTERN
A decision can remain decisive while receiving the sight of many.
So Moses heard and responded to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.Without counsel, plans are broken, but in a multitude of counselors they stand.Then it seemed good to the sent ones and elders, with the whole assembly, to send chosen men from among themselves to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas called Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.THE THREAD
You are good, and you do good; teach me your statutes.“Best” in the king’s words belongs to the יטב root family echoed in “good” and “doest good” here. The psalm holds goodness as both a quality and an action, while the king’s words show goodness discerned through the people’s eyes.
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