What Does 2 Samuel 11:2 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
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 echoes the same seeing-root in “he saw” and “appearance,” joining the gaze to what is visible.
THE MEANING
The scene meets you at the turn from movement to sight: David walks onto the roof, sees a woman washing, and her appearance is described as exceedingly good. The verse gives you this visible moment, while her own thoughts and awareness remain unstated.
THE ROOT
וַיַּרְא
wayyar’
GROWS FROM
ראה
see, look, perceive
The verse uses וַיַּרְא (wayyar’, “he saw”) and טוֹבַת מַרְאֶה (tovat mar’eh, “good of appearance”); the second phrase carries the same seeing-root inside the description of her looks. Hebrew joins the gaze to the appearance it registers, while the text leaves what lies beyond that visible layer unstated.
ALSO GROWS
mar’eh: Appearance; what is seen
מַרְאֶה
This noun appears in the verse’s description of the woman, repeating the seeing-root within the word for appearance.
ro’eh: One who sees; a seer
רֹאֶה
It names the one who sees, linking the act of seeing to the perceiver.
THE PATTERN
Sight presents the visible surface, while the heart and unseen dimensions remain beyond that first view.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.THE THREAD
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.Genesis 3:6 joins רָאָה (ra’ah, “see”) with טוֹב (tov, “good”) as the woman sees that the tree is good. Here, the same word-family appears inside מַרְאֶה (mar’eh, “appearance”), braiding sight and the appraisal of what is seen in both verses.
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