What Does 2 Samuel 23:20 Mean?
And Benaiah son of Jehoiada, son of a man of strength, of Kabzeel, who had done many deeds, struck down two lionlike men of Moab. He also went down and struck a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.
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 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:THE KEY
The same Hebrew lion-word names both the Moabite champions and the animal in the pit, joining human and animal danger in one image.
THE MEANING
Courage here means meeting danger inside its own enclosure, in the pit and in the snow. The Hebrew calls the Moabite champions “Ariels” before Benaiah meets an actual lion; the shared lion-word binds the threats together. Benaiah (בְּנָיָה, Bənāyāh; “Yah has built”) and Jehoiada (יְהוֹיָדָע, Yəhōyādāʿ; “Yah knows”) carry building and knowing in their names.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that courage depends on favorable ground: this encounter takes place in a pit, in snow.
THE ROOT
אֲרִיאֵל
Ari'el
GROWS FROM
ארי
ʾ-r-y
lion
The Hebrew calls the Moabite champions “Ariels,” then uses the same lion-word for the animal in the pit. “Lionlike men” and “lion” preserve the image in English, while the Hebrew makes their shared name audible.
ALSO GROWS
ari: lion
אֲרִי
This is the lion-word used for the animal Benaiah encounters in the pit.
Ari'el: “lion of God”; here, a champion-like man
אֲרִיאֵל
This is the designation for the two Moabite opponents, linking them directly to the lion that follows.
וַיַּךְ
vayyakh
GROWS FROM
נכה
n-k-h
strike, smite
“struck” in this verse is vayyakh. The same Hebrew striking verb is used for the Moabite champions and for the lion. The KJV’s “slew” names the outcome; the root keeps the repeated act of striking in view.
ALSO GROWS
makkāh: blow, wound, or plague
מַכָּה
It names the impact carried by the root behind both acts of striking.
hikkāh: he struck, smote
הִכָּה
This form of the same root makes the striking action visible in the related account of David facing a lion.
בְּנָיָה
Bənāyāh
GROWS FROM
בנה
b-n-h
build, build up
Benaiah’s name carries the root for building together with the divine name: “Yah has built.” The name holds a nature of building alongside the verse’s descent into danger.
ALSO GROWS
bānāh: to build
בָּנָה
This is the verb at the root of Benaiah’s name.
mivneh: structure, form
מִבְנֶה
This noun from the same root shows the built thing as an ordered structure.
THE PATTERN
Courage appears as direct engagement with danger at the place where danger has force.
And I went out after him, and struck him, and snatched it from his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him.On the lion and the adder you tread; the young lion and the serpent you trample.Who by trust wrestled down kingdoms, worked alignment, reached the promises, fenced the mouths of lions.THE THREAD
And I went out after him, and struck him, and snatched it from his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him.The Hebrew root נכה (n-k-h), “strike,” stands behind “slew” here and “smote” in David’s account. The shared verb links the two lion encounters through the act itself.
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