What Does 2 Kings 6:3 Mean in the King James?

And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.

2 Kings 6:3 · 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.

THE KEY

The word rendered “content” carries willingness and consent, so the hinge is a freely given yes that turns the journey into shared presence.

THE MEANING

A need for company can be spoken plainly: one asks another to come, and the answer is, “I will go.” The verse holds the work and the relationship together: the journey becomes shared.

THE ROOT

הוֹאֶל

hoʾēl

GROWS FROM

יאל

yʾl

To be willing or consent; in its causative form, to undertake or begin.

Under “content” is the language of willingness and consent, a shade that also reaches into undertaking or beginning. The yes here is active: the one invited willingly enters the journey with them.

ALSO GROWS

hoʾalti: “I have undertaken” or “I have been willing” (Genesis 18:27).

הוֹאַלְתִּי

Willingness becomes taking up the act of speaking, showing how consent moves into action.

hoʾil: “Began” or “undertook” (Deuteronomy 1:5).

הוֹאִיל

The same root marks the beginning of a task, linking the yes in this verse with entering into what comes next.

THE PATTERN

Willingness becomes visible when a request is answered by taking up the action it asks for.

And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.

2 Kings 6:3 · KJVA request for company receives a willing answer, and the journey becomes shared.

And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

Genesis 18:27 · KJVWillingness to speak becomes an action Abraham takes up.

And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

Mark 1:41 · KJVA request framed as “If thou wilt” is answered with “I will,” and willingness moves into touch.

THE THREAD

And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

Genesis 18:27 · KJV

“I have taken upon me” comes from ⁨יאל⁩ (yaʾal, be willing or undertake), the same root carried by “Be content” here. In Genesis, willingness takes the form of speaking; here, it takes the form of going alongside others.

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