What Does 2 Kings 3:26 Mean in the King James?
And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The root of “break through” means to split open: seven hundred drawn swords attempt the breach, yet the verse says they cannot make it.
THE MEANING
The conflict can exceed the strength of the one trying to master it: Moab’s king gathers seven hundred sword-bearers and presses toward Edom’s king, but they cannot break through. The scene holds force and limitation together; numbers and weapons do not themselves create a passage.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Enough force must open a way. Here, seven hundred armed men cannot force the breach.
THE ROOT
לְהַבְקִיעַ
lehabqia
GROWS FROM
בקע
baqa
Split, cleave, or open a breach.
“break through” in this verse is lehabqia. The king tries to split an enemy line by sword; this same verb describes the sea being divided into a passage. The word names an opening, but the verse withholds it from this armed force: they cannot make the breach.
ALSO GROWS
uveqa'ehu: Split it open.
וּבְקָעֵהוּ
Exodus 14:16 uses the same root for dividing the sea, where the split becomes a passage.
clave: Split or cleave open.
וַיְבַקַּע
Isaiah 48:21 uses the root for cleaving a rock so water gushes out; here, the attempted breach fails.
חָזַק
chazaq
GROWS FROM
חזק
chazaq
Be strong, prevail, or strengthen.
“too sore / was stronger” in this verse is chazaq. The Hebrew says the battle is strong against the king, exceeding his strength. This root also describes being strong and strengthening another, so the verse presents the conflict as an imbalance of force.
ALSO GROWS
chizqu: Be strong.
חִזְקוּ
Deuteronomy 31:6 uses the same root for strength in the face of what overwhelms.
strengthened: Made strong or strengthened.
וַיְחַזֵּק
In 1 Samuel 23:16, Jonathan strengthens David’s hand; the root can describe strength passing from one person to another.
THE PATTERN
Human strength and force do not guarantee deliverance or a way through.
There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.THE THREAD
But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.The same Hebrew root בקע (baqa), meaning to split or cleave, describes Moab’s attempted breach and the sea being divided. One armed assault cannot force an opening; in Exodus, the split becomes a passage.
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