What Does 2 Samuel 10:13 Mean in the King James?

And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him.

2 Samuel 10:13 · 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.

THE KEY

The Hebrew root behind “they fled” also names a refuge, so the retreat carries the shape of movement away from danger and toward safety.

THE MEANING

You see the encounter turn as Joab and the people beside him draw near to battle and the Syrians flee before him. The line ends with the opposing force in retreat.

THE ROOT

וַיָּנֻסוּ

wayyānusū

GROWS FROM

נוס

nūs, to flee, escape

“fled” in this verse is wayyānusū. The root holds fleeing and refuge together: the verb here shares its consonants with a noun for the place of escape. English shows the Syrians running; Hebrew also lets flight carry the shape of moving away from danger and toward safety.

ALSO GROWS

nūs: to flee, escape

נוּס

This verb names the movement the Syrians make in the verse.

mānōs: refuge, place of escape

מָנוֹס

The same root consonants name where one flees to, joining retreat with refuge.

THE PATTERN

When a force meets a presence or resistance it cannot hold against, the scene can turn into its flight.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

Psalm 68:1 · KJVThe enemies’ scattering and flight mark the moment God arises.

And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

Exodus 14:25 · KJVThe Egyptians name their own retreat when the encounter turns against them.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7 · KJVResistance is followed by the adversary’s flight, echoing the turn from approach to retreat.

THE THREAD

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

Genesis 19:20 · KJV

Genesis uses the same root for Lot’s plea to flee, with a clear destination: a nearby city he can reach. Beside Joab’s scene, it reveals the root’s two-sided shape, moving away from danger and toward a place of escape.

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