What Does 2 Kings 3:4 Mean in the King James?
And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
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 tribute is called a return: the king’s power is measured by what the flock is made to send back.
THE MEANING
Here, rule becomes countable: authority reaches into a flock and claims its yield. The verb behind “rendered” means “returned,” casting the tribute as something sent back to the king; the wool is part of what the claim reaches.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the idea that kingship is only a title: here, authority is expressed through a claim on the flock and its wool.
THE ROOT
וְהֵשִׁיב
wəhēšîḇ
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
Return, turn back, bring back.
The verb translated “rendered” is a form of שׁוּב (shuv), meaning “to return” or “bring back.” The verse frames the flock’s yield as a return owed to the king, while the same root can also describe a life being restored.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Return, turn back.
שׁוּב
This is the root’s basic motion: what is rendered moves back toward the one who claims it.
yeshovev: He restores, brings back.
יְשׁוֹבֵב
In Psalm 23:3, this form describes the living soul being restored, showing that the root’s return can restore life as well as convey tribute.
teshuvah: Return, turning back.
תְּשׁוּבָה
This noun makes the root’s movement explicit: return is a change in direction, whether something is owed or a life is brought back.
THE PATTERN
The direction of return reveals the relationship: tribute flows toward a ruler, while restoration returns a life toward wholeness.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.THE THREAD
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.יְשׁוֹבֵב (yeshovev, “he restores”) comes from שׁוּב (shuv, “return, turn back”), the same root as וְהֵשִׁיב (wəhēshîḇ, “he returned”) here. The root spans both a flock’s yield sent toward a king and a living soul restored.
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