What Does 2 Samuel 8:13 Mean?
And David made himself a name when he turned back from striking the Syrians in the valley of salt, eighteen thousand men.
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 gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.THE KEY
David’s “name” here is the renown made from his deeds, and the verse leaves the eighteen thousand men struck down inside that reputation.
THE MEANING
A public name gathers the deeds by which others know a person; here, David’s renown is tied to striking Aram and to the count of eighteen thousand men. The verse keeps the cost of that fame in view alongside the victory.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A great name does not by itself prove that the deeds behind it are admirable; this verse ties David’s renown to a campaign that leaves eighteen thousand men struck down.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעַשׂ
wayya'as
GROWS FROM
עשה
To do, make, or bring about.
“made himself a name” in this verse is wayya'as. The Hebrew says David “made a name”: שֵׁם (shem, name or renown) is joined directly to עשה (asah, make). That phrasing ties his reputation to what he does, and the verse names the deed and its toll rather than letting renown float free of them.
ALSO GROWS
asah: To do or make.
עָשָׂה
This is the verb behind “gat him a name,” linking David’s renown to an action.
ma'aseh: A deed or work.
מַעֲשֶׂה
This noun from the same root makes the link between a made name and the deeds attached to it visible.
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; David’s name is commonly connected with dod, “beloved.”
David’s given name carries the sense of “beloved,” while this verse says his public renown grows from a violent victory. The two shades sit together: the name he bears and the reputation his actions make known are not the same thing.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved; also a close kinsman.
דּוֹד
This is the word associated with David’s name and brings its sense of belovedness into the verse.
dodim: Loves or expressions of love.
דּוֹדִים
This related form carries the same root’s association with affection, a striking counterpoint to the violence named here.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats a name as a reputation shaped by action and a nature made recognizable, not merely as a label.
And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower with its head in the heavens; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered across the face of the whole earth.A good name is to be chosen over great gathered wealth, and loving favor over silver and gold.Therefore God also lifted him high, and favored him with a name above every name.THE THREAD
And I was with you wherever you walked, and I cut off all your enemies from your face, and I made for you a great name, like the name of the great men who are in the earth.This verse uses the same Hebrew pairing as 8:13: עשה (asah, make) with שֵׁם (shem, name or renown). In 7:9 the LORD makes David’s great name; in 8:13 David is the grammatical maker, and his renown is tied to battle. The two verses hold divine gift and human action together.
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