What Does 2 Samuel 23:16 Mean?
And the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew waters from the well of Bethlehem, the one at the gate, and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it, and poured it out to the LORD.
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 three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.THE KEY
The Hebrew names David’s pouring as a libation, turning the rescued water into an offering to the LORD.
THE MEANING
When something reaches you at real cost, its value includes the risk carried with it. David recognizes the danger his men faced in the water they bring and pours it to the LORD as a libation. The act holds receiving and releasing together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A gift becomes mine to consume simply because it reaches me.
THE ROOT
וַיַּסֵּךְ
vayyassekh
GROWS FROM
נסך
To pour out, especially to pour a drink offering or libation.
“poured it out” in this verse is vayyassekh. The Hebrew verb names pouring an offering before God. The water David receives remains a gift whose cost he recognizes, and its final destination is the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
nesekh: Drink offering, libation.
נֶסֶךְ
This noun names the same kind of offering expressed by David’s verb; his act is a deliberate presentation of the water to God.
nesakhim: Drink offerings, libations.
נְסָכִים
The plural form shows this pouring belongs to the vocabulary of offering; the verb in the verse carries that ritual sense.
וַיִּבְקְעוּ
vayyivqe’u
GROWS FROM
בקע
To split open, cleave through, or make a breach.
“broke through” in this verse is vayyivqe’u. The verb pictures a passage made by splitting through an obstruction. The story places that breach beside water drawn from a well: the men open a way through danger to bring relief.
ALSO GROWS
baqa: To split open, cleave.
בָּקַע
This verb form shares the root’s image of making an opening, as the warriors cut through the Philistine camp.
biq’ah: Valley, cleft, or open tract.
בִּקְעָה
The word for a valley carries the image of land opened between boundaries, echoing the breach through which the men pass.
THE PATTERN
What is received can be released before God as an offering rather than kept as private possession.
And he said, Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Is this not the blood of the men who went with their living souls? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.Lean your full weight upon him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before him. God is our shelter. Selah.But even if I am poured out upon the offering and service of your trust, I rejoice, and rejoice together with you all.THE THREAD
And he said, Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Is this not the blood of the men who went with their living souls? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.The next verse names why David does not drink: the water carries the danger the men faced. His libation recognizes the lives behind the gift and gives it to the LORD.
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