What Does 2 Samuel 2:24 Mean?
And Joab and Abishai also pursued after Abner, and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies facing Giah along the road of the wilderness of Gibeon.
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
Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.THE KEY
Hebrew uses one root for chasing Abner and for goodness that follows, so the verb names the motion while the one pursuing gives it its character.
THE MEANING
The verse sets the chase alongside a boundary in time: Joab and Abishai pursue Abner as the sun sets at the hill. The named wilderness road makes the pursuit concrete, a movement across place as well as between people. You can see relentless motion unfolding within a finite stretch of light.
THE ROOT
רָדְפוּ
radfu
GROWS FROM
רדף
radaph
Pursue, chase after, follow.
“pursued after” in this verse is radfu. This root forms words for a pursuer, pursuit, and one who is pursued: it names the motion and relation of the chase, not its moral character. The same verb describes goodness and mercy following someone, a connection English hides when it separates “pursued” from “follow.”
ALSO GROWS
rodef: A pursuer; one who pursues.
רֹדֵף
It names the one carrying the action in this verse.
redifah: Pursuit.
רְדִיפָה
It turns the verb into the chase itself, the sustained motion around which the verse is built.
nirdaf: One who is pursued or persecuted.
נִרְדָּף
It shows the same root from Abner’s side of the chase: pursuer and pursued are joined by one root.
בָּאָה
ba'ah
GROWS FROM
בוא
bo
Come, enter, arrive.
“went down” in this verse is ba'ah. The Hebrew marks the setting sun with a verb meaning “came” or “arrived.” Dusk arrives at the hill alongside the pursuit, giving the scene a boundary in time as well as a named place.
ALSO GROWS
ba: Came; arrived.
בָּא
It is another form of the root’s basic motion of coming into a place or moment.
yavo: He will come or enter.
יָבוֹא
It carries the same arrival forward, echoing how the verse marks dusk as something that comes upon the scene.
THE PATTERN
Pursuit is a motion that can be directed toward a person, toward goodness, or toward peace.
And Joab and Abishai also pursued after Abner, and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies facing Giah along the road of the wilderness of Gibeon.Surely goodness and faithful love pursue me all the days of my life, and I settle in the house of the LORD for the length of days.Let him turn aside from evil and do good; let him seek wholeness and pursue it.THE THREAD
Surely goodness and faithful love pursue me all the days of my life, and I settle in the house of the LORD for the length of days.The word rendered “follow” in Psalm 23:6 comes from the same Hebrew root רדף (radaph), meaning pursue or follow, as “pursued” here. In this verse, the motion carries Joab and Abishai after Abner; in the psalm, it carries goodness and mercy after the speaker. One root holds both pursuits, while what follows gives the motion a different character.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us