What Does 2 Samuel 2:2 Mean?
So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
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
So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal’s wife the Carmelite.THE KEY
This is an ascent with belonging intact: the beloved goes up, and his two wives are named as part of the same movement.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now as a picture of movement that carries relationship with it: David goes up, and his two wives are named alongside him. David’s name carries the sense of “beloved,” so the line holds ascent and belonging together.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעַל
wayyaʿal
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
To go up, ascend, or rise.
“went up” in this verse is wayyaʿal. English gives a direction, while this root also names ascent and the ʿolah, the offering that rises. Here David’s movement upward is stated alongside the wives who go with him.
ALSO GROWS
ʿaliyah: Ascent; going up.
עֲלִיָּה
It makes the shared seed of David’s movement visible in the Hebrew word family.
ʿolah: A burnt offering; literally, something that rises.
עֹלָה
It shows how the same root can name both upward movement and what rises.
דָּוִד
Dawid
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d
Beloved; the same Hebrew word can also mean uncle or close kinsman.
David’s name carries the sense of “beloved,” giving the ascent a relational note. The line names the beloved together with those who accompany him.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved one; also uncle or close male kin.
דּוֹד
This is the word-family behind David’s name and connects it with affection and kinship.
dōdîm: Loves or endearments.
דּוֹדִים
The related word in the Song of Songs shows the root’s association with intimate affection.
THE PATTERN
An ascent becomes shared movement when the verse names those who go with the one who rises.
And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Burning One, and Judas the brother of James.THE THREAD
And his men who were with him brought David up, every man with his household, and they settled in the cities of Hebron.The verb “bring up” comes from the same root עלה as “went up” in this verse. The next line widens the picture: the ascent carries households as well as David’s wives.
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