What Does 2 Samuel 9:9 Mean?
Then the king called to Ziba, servant of Saul, and said to him, I have given to your master's son all that was Saul's, and all that was of his house.
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
Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house.THE KEY
The word translated “given” also carries the sense of setting something in place: the king restores a whole inheritance by placing it in the son’s hands.
THE MEANING
The king’s word makes restoration tangible: everything belonging to Saul’s house is placed with Jonathan’s son. The inheritance has a named recipient, and the gift reaches into his material life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Remembering someone is not the same as restoring them; here, the king’s regard takes concrete form in what he gives.
THE ROOT
נָתַתִּי
natatti
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“I have given” in this verse is natatti. The root נָתַן (natan, to give, set, or place) holds transfer and placement together. The king’s gift does more than pass property along: it sets the inheritance with Jonathan’s son.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This verb’s range lets the verse’s gift also carry the sense of placing the inheritance with its recipient.
mattanah: A gift or present, from the same root.
מַתָּנָה
The related noun shows that a gift is another branch of the same seed: what is given is placed into another’s hands.
THE PATTERN
Restoration becomes concrete when what is lost is returned and a place of belonging is restored.
God settles the lone ones into households; he brings out the bound ones in chains; but the ones who turn away dwell in a parched land.But the father said to his servants, "Quickly, bring out the first robe and put it on him, and give a ring into his hand and sandals onto his feet."And David said to him, Do not fear, for I will surely do faithful love with you for the sake of Jonathan your father, and will turn back to you all the fields of Saul your father, and you shall eat bread at my table always.THE THREAD
And God set them in the expanse of the heavens, to shine upon the earth.The Hebrew נָתַן (natan, to give or set in place) appears in both verses. In Genesis, the lights are “set”; here, the inheritance is given, placing it with Jonathan’s son.
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