What Does 2 Samuel 5:6 Mean?
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the settlers of the land. They said to David, Unless you turn aside the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here, saying, David shall not come in here.
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 king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.THE KEY
Jerusalem’s taunt makes exclusion sound like reality by repeating the same Hebrew verb for “come” as both command and verdict.
THE MEANING
A closed threshold can speak as though its refusal decides what is possible. Here, entry is made conditional on removing the blind and the lame, and the taunt insists David cannot enter. The verse leaves that exclusion sharp and unresolved.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A boundary’s declaration that entry is impossible can feel like fact, but the next verse shows that its certainty does not make it final.
THE ROOT
תָבוֹא
tavo
GROWS FROM
בוא
To come, enter, or arrive.
“come” in this verse is tavo. The taunt uses this same root for David’s forbidden entry and for the claim that he cannot enter. English shifts the wording, while Hebrew keeps the challenge fixed on one act: coming in.
ALSO GROWS
tavo: You come or enter.
תָבוֹא
This form appears in the Jebusites’ condition about David entering.
yavo: He comes or enters.
יָבֹא
This form appears in their claim about David, repeating the same root as a verdict.
הֱסִירְךָ
hesirkha
GROWS FROM
סור
To turn aside, depart, or remove.
“turn aside” in this verse is hesirkha. The demanded removal is expressed through a root of turning aside and departing. Entry is framed as dependent on the blind and the lame being moved away from the threshold.
ALSO GROWS
hesir: To remove or turn aside.
הֵסִיר
This causative form names the condition the Jebusites place on entry.
sar: He turned aside or departed.
סָר
This form shows the movement away contained in the demand to remove.
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
שלם
To be whole or complete; the name carries the sound of shalem and shalom, wholeness.
“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. The city’s name carries the sound of wholeness, while this verse gives its inhabitants a voice of exclusion. The name does not erase the threat; it lets the place and the taunt stand in tension.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole or complete.
שָׁלֵם
The name’s sound points toward completeness even as the verse presents a barred entrance.
shalom: Wholeness.
שָׁלוֹם
This shared sound places the taunt’s exclusion beside the wholeness carried in the city’s name.
THE PATTERN
A threshold declared impassable can be crossed, and the claim of exclusion is answered by what happens at the gate.
So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets, and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell beneath itself, so that the people climbed up into the city, every man straight ahead of his face, and they seized the city.David seized the stronghold of Zion. This is the city of David.When they had gone past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that carries into the city, which swung open for them by itself. They went out and passed through one street, and at once the messenger went away from him.THE THREAD
David seized the stronghold of Zion. This is the city of David.The next verse answers the Jebusites’ claim of impossible entry with the report that David takes Zion’s stronghold. The taunt’s certainty is immediately tested by what happens next.
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