What Does 2 Samuel 20:17 Mean?
And when he drew near to her, the woman said, Are you Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said to him, Hear and respond to the words of your handmaid. And he answered, I hear and respond.
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 when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.THE KEY
The first opening in a siege is a commander’s willingness to hear.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks wherever a decision is being made under pressure and someone asks to be heard. The woman’s request reaches Joab, and his answer turns physical nearness into attention: he is listening to what she has to say. Her words now have room to affect what happens next.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the assumption that a person in a servant’s position has nothing worth hearing from a commander.
THE ROOT
שְׁמַע
shemaʿ shomeaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear and attend to what is heard.
“Hear and respond to the words” in this verse is shemaʿ shomeaʿ. The request שְׁמַע (shemaʿ) and the answer שֹׁמֵעַ (shomeaʿ) are two forms of the same root. What she asks for is already present in his reply: attentive hearing that can respond, not just sound reaching the ears.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear; attend and respond.
שְׁמַע
This is the woman’s request: she asks Joab to receive what she says and respond to it.
shomeaʿ: Hearing; one who listens.
שֹׁמֵעַ
Joab answers with this form of the same root: “hearing, I am”, linking his reply directly to her request.
דִּבְרֵי
divrei
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; as a noun, a word, matter, or thing.
The English “words” can sound like language alone, while דָּבָר (davar) can also name the matter or thing being spoken about. Her speech is presented as something substantial enough to be heard and reckoned with.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word; matter; thing.
דָּבָר
Her “words” belong to a root that also names the matter itself, giving her speech weight in the negotiation.
dibber: Spoke; to speak.
דִּבֵּר
This verbal branch connects what Joab hears with the act of speaking that brings the matter before him.
וַיִּקְרַב
vayyiqrav
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
To approach or draw near.
“drew near to her” in this verse is vayyiqrav. Joab first comes near in physical space, then answers the woman’s request by giving her words his attention. The same root forms קָרְבָּן (qorban), something brought near, echoing the movement from approach toward an exchange.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: Approach; come near.
קָרַב
This is the verb describing Joab’s approach to the woman.
qorban: A drawing near; an offering brought near.
קָרְבָּן
This related word makes the root’s movement toward nearness visible beneath Joab’s physical approach.
THE PATTERN
Hearing before answering can interrupt conflict before a response becomes folly or wrath.
The one who returns a word before he hears it, folly and shame are his.Guard your foot as you walk to the house of God. Draw near to hear and respond rather than give the slaughter-offering of the thick-headed, for they do not know how to do harm.Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to swell.THE THREAD
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant hears and responds.Joab’s שֹׁמֵעַ (shomeaʿ, hearing) is the same Hebrew form Samuel uses for “heareth.” In both verses, that response makes room for another voice to speak; here, the listening happens in the middle of a siege and negotiation.
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