What Does 2 Samuel 10:8 Mean in the King James?
And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and Ish-tob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.
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 verb for arranging an army comes from the same root used to set a table and order a case.
THE MEANING
You meet two separated positions: Ammon’s troops arrayed at the gate, and Syrian forces standing apart in the field. The verse keeps the violence concrete and mapped, an entrance occupied, open ground held separately.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעַרְכוּ
vayyaʿarkhū
GROWS FROM
ערך
ʿ-r-kh
Arrange, set in order, prepare.
“put ... in array” in this verse is vayyaʿarkhū. The same root forms a military formation, sets out a table, and arranges a case. English “array” can sound narrowly military, while the Hebrew root also names the ordering of provision and a matter presented for judgment.
ALSO GROWS
maʿarakhah: An arranged formation, including a battle formation.
מַעֲרָכָה
This noun names the ordered force that the verb describes here.
ʿārakh shulḥan: Arrange a table with what is to be served.
עָרַךְ שֻׁלְחָן
The same root describes a table prepared before someone in Psalm 23:5, widening the image of deliberate arrangement beyond combat.
ʿārakh mishpāṭ: Set out or arrange a case for judgment.
עָרַךְ מִשְׁפָּט
Job 13:18 uses this root for ordering a case, showing that the root can arrange a force, provision, or an argument.
THE PATTERN
Before an encounter unfolds, its forces or elements are placed into an order that shapes what can happen.
And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.Let all things be done decently and in order.THE THREAD
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.The verb translated “preparest” is תַּעֲרֹךְ (taʿarokh, you arrange), from the same root ערך (ʿ-r-kh) as “put ... in array.” The same verb arranges a battle line here and a table in Psalm 23:5, with enemies still present; the root spans battle order and provision without erasing the difference between them.
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