What Does 2 Samuel 2:23 Mean?
But he refused to turn aside, so Abner struck him with the back of the spear under the fifth rib, and the spear came out from behind him, and he fell there and died in his place. And it came to be that all who came to the place where Asahel fell and died stood.
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
Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.THE KEY
The pursuit reaches its fatal point when Asahel refuses to turn back, and the place of his death makes every passerby stop.
THE MEANING
The scene holds Asahel’s unrelenting pursuit and the spear thrust that kills him. The place is marked by his death; everyone who comes upon it stands still. The narration leaves the violence and its public aftershock together.
THE ROOT
לָשׁוּב
lashuv
GROWS FROM
שוב
shuv
Turn back, return.
“turn aside” in this verse is lashuv. The phrase carries the depth of לָשׁוּב (lashuv, to turn back or return): Asahel refuses to reverse his course. The same root appears in תְּשׁוּבָה (teshuvah, return) and מְשׁוּבָה (meshubah, turning away or backsliding), tying the pursuit to a turn he will not make.
ALSO GROWS
teshuvah: Return, turning back.
תְּשׁוּבָה
This branch makes the direction of Asahel’s refusal visible: he keeps going instead of returning.
meshubah: Turning away, backsliding.
מְשׁוּבָה
The root can describe a change of direction; here Asahel does not turn away from the pursuit.
וַיַּעֲמֹדוּ
vaya'amodu
GROWS FROM
עמד
amad
Stand, remain, take one’s stand.
The Hebrew says that the people stood; the KJV’s “still” gives the pause its force. The root gathers the passersby into a shared stand at the place where Asahel fell.
ALSO GROWS
omed: Standing; one who stands.
עֹמֵד
It shares the verb’s basic image of a person held upright and present at the scene.
ma'amad: A standing place or position.
מַעֲמָד
This branch echoes how the death site becomes a place where those who arrive take their stand.
THE PATTERN
A violent death can arrest the movement of everyone who reaches its place.
And Amasa wallowed in blood in the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he turned Amasa aside from the highway into the field, and threw a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.And he came and touched the bier, and those carrying him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, Wake.THE THREAD
And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then should I lift my face to Joab your brother?This is Abner’s warning immediately before the spear strike. He names the possibility of smiting Asahel to the ground, and the next verse shows that threat becoming the scene’s fatal outcome.
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