What Does 2 Samuel 7:15 Mean?
But my faithful love shall not turn aside from him, as I turned it from Saul, whom I turned aside from your face.
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
But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.THE KEY
The same Hebrew verb describes faithful love not departing from him and being removed from Saul, making the contrast the verse’s central promise.
THE MEANING
This verse holds the reader inside a distinction: faithful love can remain even when correction is real. What is withdrawn from one is not automatically withdrawn from another; the promise here is a love that does not turn aside.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that correction means faithful love has left: the preceding verse speaks of discipline, while this verse promises that this love will not be removed.
THE ROOT
סוּר
sûr
GROWS FROM
ס־ו־ר
sur
The root סוּר (sur) means to turn aside, depart, or remove.
“shall not turn aside from him” in this verse is sûr. The words translated “depart,” “took,” and “put away” all come from סוּר (sur, turn aside or remove). English sounds like separate actions, but Hebrew makes the line hinge on one movement: what is promised to remain with him is what was taken from Saul.
ALSO GROWS
yāsûr: will turn aside or depart
יָסוּר
This is the form behind “shall not depart,” picturing the promised love as not turning away.
hăsīrōtî: I removed or took away
הֲסִרֹתִי
This form appears in the references to Saul, making the repeated verb a direct contrast with what will not depart.
חֶסֶד
ḥesed
GROWS FROM
ח־ס־ד
ḥ-s-d
The root ח־ס־ד (ḥ-s-d) carries the idea of loyal kindness and steadfast love.
“my faithful love” in this verse is ḥesed. The word rendered “mercy” is חֶסֶד (ḥesed, faithful love): loyal care that holds a relationship. Its word family also describes a faithful person and the act of showing oneself loyal, so the verse presents this love as enduring commitment rather than a passing mood.
ALSO GROWS
tithḥassad: show yourself loyal or faithful
תִּתְחַסָּד
This verb from the same root shows chesed as loyalty expressed in action.
ḥāsîd: faithful or loyal one; devout person
חָסִיד
This word describes someone marked by the same quality of faithful loyalty named in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Faithful love remains even when discipline, loss, or upheaval are named openly.
My faithful love I will not break off from him, nor let my steadiness turn false.For the mountains will be moved, and the hills will totter, but my faithful love will not move away from you, nor will the covenant of my wholeness totter, says the LORD who has compassion on you.Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus the Anointed One, our Lord.THE THREAD
My faithful love I will not break off from him, nor let my steadiness turn false.Psalm 89:33 uses חֶסֶד (ḥesed, faithful love), the same word translated “mercy” here, and says this love will not be taken away. The echo sharpens the contrast with Saul: removal is named, but faithful love remains with the one addressed.
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