What Does 2 Samuel 3:9 Mean?
May God do so to Abner, and more also, except as the LORD has sworn to David, so I do to him.
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
So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as the LORD hath sworn to David, even so I do to him;THE KEY
The oath places Abner under the consequence of his own words as he binds his action to what the LORD has sworn to David.
THE MEANING
This verse shows an oath as speech that exposes its speaker to consequence: Abner calls judgment down on himself if he fails to act as the LORD has sworn to David. His pledge does more than declare allegiance; it places his own future under the words he speaks. The repeated word for “do” links the judgment he invokes on himself with the action he promises toward David.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that an oath is only emphasis and leaves its speaker untouched. Abner invokes judgment against himself if he fails to keep his word.
THE ROOT
נִשְׁבַּע
nishbaʿ
GROWS FROM
שׁבע
To swear or take an oath; the same consonants also name seven.
“sworn” in this verse is nishbaʿ. The oath word shares its consonants, ש־ב־ע, with שֶׁבַע (shevaʿ, seven). This sound-link gives the vow a solemn resonance, heard again in Beer-sheba, without making this verse literally about a count of seven.
ALSO GROWS
shevuʿah: Oath
שְׁבוּעָה
This noun keeps the act of swearing visible as a binding pledge, not a verbal flourish.
shevaʿ: Seven
שֶׁבַע
It shares the consonants ש־ב־ע with the oath word; Genesis 21:31 makes that echo audible in the name Beer-sheba.
יַעֲשֶׂה
yaʿaseh
GROWS FROM
עשה
To do, make, or bring about.
“do so” in this verse is yaʿaseh. The Hebrew repeats עשה: Abner asks that God “do” judgment to him, then says he will “do” to David as the LORD swore. The shared root makes the curse and the promised action mirror each other, tying his words to what he brings about.
ALSO GROWS
maʿaseh: Deed or work
מַעֲשֶׂה
The branch names action as something done, sharpening the movement from oath to deed.
ʿasiyyah: Doing or action
עֲשִׂיָּה
This form keeps the root’s sense of bringing something into action, as Abner promises to act on the sworn word.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; the related kinship word can also mean uncle.
David’s name echoes the Hebrew word for “beloved.” That resonance adds relational weight to the oath’s promised action, alongside the severe consequence Abner invokes for himself.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved; also a kinship term meaning uncle
דּוֹד
This word gives David’s name its beloved resonance.
dōdîm: Loves or caresses
דּוֹדִים
The same consonants carry affection as well as kinship, deepening the name’s relational sound.
THE PATTERN
An oath makes a spoken commitment answerable to the witness invoked and the terms declared.
Therefore he called that place the well of the swearing, Beersheba, because there the two of them swore.When you vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not linger to make it whole, for the LORD your God will surely seek it from you, and it would be a shortcoming in you.For when God promised to Abraham, since he had none greater to swear by, he swore by himself,THE THREAD
Therefore he called that place the well of the swearing, Beersheba, because there the two of them swore.“Hath sworn” here and “sware” there draw on שׁבע (š-b-ʿ), the same consonants as שֶׁבַע (shevaʿ, seven). Beer-sheba (בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, Beʾer-shevaʿ) joins “well” with that oath-and-seven echo, making the root’s solemn binding audible.
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