What Does 2 Samuel 10:4 Mean in the King James?
Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
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 beard shares a root with “elder,” while the cut garment turns covering into exposure: the humiliation attacks both visible age and bodily privacy.
THE MEANING
The verse shows how humiliation can be imposed through the body: a visible sign of age is partly removed, and the garment is cut so the men are exposed. They are then sent away in that condition, carrying the insult beyond the moment of violence.
THE ROOT
זְקָנָם
zĕqānām
GROWS FROM
זקן
z-q-n
To be old or grow old.
“beards” in this verse is zĕqānām. The word for beard shares its root with the word for an elder. English can make the shaving sound like a matter of grooming; the Hebrew also links the beard to visible age and mature standing.
ALSO GROWS
zaqan: Beard.
זָקָן
This is the word in the verse; half of each beard is removed.
zaqen: Elder; old man.
זָקֵן
Its shared root links the beard to age and the standing associated with it.
וַיִּכְרֹת
wayyikrot
GROWS FROM
כרת
k-r-t
To cut or sever.
“cut” in this verse is wayyikrot. The verb makes the damage a severing of the garment itself. A piece of clothing meant to cover becomes the means by which the men are exposed.
ALSO GROWS
karat: To cut; cut off.
כָּרַת
This is the root verb used for cutting their garments.
keritut: A dismissal or divorce; literally, a cutting off.
כְּרִיתוּת
This related noun carries the root’s sense of separation or severance.
וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם
vayshalleḥem
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
To send forth, release, or stretch out.
“sent them away” in this verse is vayshalleḥem. The final act uses the root שָׁלַח (shalach, send or release). Here the men are sent forth after being stripped and exposed, so the sending takes the form of coercive expulsion.
ALSO GROWS
shalach: To send, send forth, or release.
שָׁלַח
This is the root of the verse’s final action: Hanun sends the men away.
mishloach: A sending, dispatch, or outstretching.
מִשְׁלוֹחַ
This related noun preserves the root’s movement outward, which here follows the humiliation.
THE PATTERN
A body’s covering marks whether a person is exposed in shame or clothed in restored dignity.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:THE THREAD
In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.Isaiah also names זָקָן (zaqan, beard) as something shaved away. Its root, זקן (z-q-n, age or growing old), also appears in זָקֵן (zaqen, elder), linking the visible beard here to age and mature standing.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us