What Does 1 Kings 2:13 Mean in the King James?

And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.

1 Kings 2:13 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The spoken promise of peace carries a deeper test: shalom is wholeness, so the intention within the encounter reveals what the word contains.

THE MEANING

You hear a claim of peace and watch to see what it carries. The Hebrew ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, wholeness and welfare) names more than a courteous tone; it speaks of an encounter made whole. The intention that follows gives the greeting its substance.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A peaceful greeting by itself guarantees peaceful intent.

THE ROOT

שָׁלוֹם

shalom

GROWS FROM

שלם

sh-l-m

To be whole, complete, or intact; to make whole or make good.

Here, ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, wholeness and welfare) is the word spoken as “peaceably.” Its root also reaches completeness and making good, so the verse places the speaker’s claim beside the intention the encounter reveals.

ALSO GROWS

shalom: Wholeness, welfare, peace.

שָׁלוֹם

This is the word spoken here: peace carries the sense of well-being and an encounter made whole.

shalem: Whole, complete, intact.

שָׁלֵם

This branch makes the depth of the greeting visible: wholeness describes a condition, not just a reassuring sound.

shillem: To repay, recompense, or make good.

שִׁלֵּם

The same root can describe making good what is owed, linking wholeness with what is set right.

THE PATTERN

Peace is wholeness made visible through the way people pursue and inhabit their relationships.

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

Psalm 34:14 · KJVThe Hebrew ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, wholeness and welfare) is something sought and pursued through action.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Romans 12:18 · KJVPeace takes shape in how you meet others, giving a spoken assurance substance through the course of the encounter.

THE THREAD

I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 120:7 · KJV

The same Hebrew word, ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, wholeness and welfare), appears in both verses. Psalm 120:7 makes the tension audible between a word of peace and the conflict surrounding it, opening the greeting here as a question about the wholeness the encounter actually carries.

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