What Does 2 Kings 9:20 Mean in the King James?
And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.
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 watchman recognizes Jehu by the way he moves: before he arrives, his driving has already disclosed him.
THE MEANING
You see a person become recognizable through the force and pattern of their approach: he does not turn back, and his driving is so particular that the watchman names him. The verse calls that manner “madness,” letting its intensity remain part of what the watcher sees.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
You have to announce who you are before anyone can recognize you.
THE ROOT
שִׁגָּעוֹן
shigga'on
GROWS FROM
שגע
To be mad or act wildly.
“furiously” in this verse is shigga'on. The Hebrew says Jehu drives “in madness,” naming the mode of his motion. The watchman reads that manner as a recognizable signature.
ALSO GROWS
shigga'on: Madness or frenzy.
שִׁגָּעוֹן
This noun names the state that the watchman sees in Jehu’s driving.
meshugga: Mad or deranged.
מְשֻׁגָּע
This related form shows the same root describing a person marked by that wildness.
הַנְהָגָה
hannahagah
GROWS FROM
נהג
To drive, lead, or conduct.
The noun for “driving” and the verb translated “driveth” repeat the root נהג. The same seed can describe leading or conducting, so Jehu’s motion reads as a recognizable way of carrying himself.
ALSO GROWS
nahag: To drive, lead, or conduct.
נָהַג
The verse uses this root again in its verb for how Jehu drives.
minhag: A custom or customary practice.
מִנְהָג
A repeated way of acting becomes recognizable, much as Jehu’s manner of driving identifies him.
הַצֹּפֶה
hatzopheh
GROWS FROM
צפה
To look out, watch, or observe.
The watchman is literally the one looking out. His attention is sharp enough to recognize Jehu from the manner of his approach.
ALSO GROWS
tsopheh: One who watches or looks out.
צֹפֶה
This is the form used for the watchman who identifies the approaching driver.
mitspeh: A lookout or watchtower.
מִצְפֶּה
The related word evokes the vantage point from which an approaching figure can be seen.
THE PATTERN
A person’s way of acting can make them recognizable before they describe themselves.
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.THE THREAD
I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.The “watchman” here and Habakkuk’s “watch” share the root צפה, to look out and observe. In Kings, the watcher’s attention reads a person’s motion; in Habakkuk, it waits to see what will be spoken.
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