What Does 2 Samuel 6:14 Mean?
And David whirled before the LORD with all his strength, and David was girded with a linen ephod.
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 David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.THE KEY
The Hebrew says David is whirling with all his strength “to the face of the LORD”: the king’s power becomes visible as movement in God’s presence.
THE MEANING
Your strength can move in the presence of the LORD; it can be visible in the body. David is girded in a linen ephod and dances with all his might, making devotion something you can see.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that reverence must look controlled and physically restrained; David’s reverence appears as full-bodied movement.
THE ROOT
לִפְנֵי
lifnei
GROWS FROM
פנה
panah
Turn, face toward
The phrase rendered “before the LORD” carries the face-and-presence word family: David dances toward the LORD’s face, in direct presence. This puts the LORD, rather than the watching crowd, at the center of the scene.
ALSO GROWS
panim: Face; presence
פָּנִים
The phrase לִפְנֵי uses this face-word to frame the dance as taking place in the LORD’s presence.
panah: To turn or face toward
פָּנָה
This verbal form gives the word family a sense of direction: David’s dance is oriented toward the LORD.
עֹז
ʿoz
GROWS FROM
עזז
ʿazaz
Be strong
“with all his strength” in this verse is ʿoz. The word translated “might” is עֹז, strength. In this verse, strength becomes visible as movement; elsewhere, its word family can name a stronghold, מָעוֹז (maʿoz).
ALSO GROWS
ʿaz: Strong, powerful
עָז
This related form shows the shared root’s sense of strength.
maʿoz: Stronghold, refuge
מָעוֹז
The same word family can describe strength as a place of refuge, while David’s strength here takes the form of dance.
THE PATTERN
Joy in the LORD’s presence becomes visible in bodily movement.
Let them praise his nature in the whirling; let them make music to him with the hand-drum and the harp.Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together. I will overturn their mourning into gladness, and I will comfort them, and I will gladden them out of their sorrow.Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard harmony and dancing.THE THREAD
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with wholeness.The word עֹז (ʿoz, strength) in David’s verse is the same Hebrew word used here for the strength the LORD gives. David’s dance makes that strength visible as movement.
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