What Does 2 Samuel 12:4 Mean in the King James?
And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
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 word translated “spared” also means “had pity”: the rich man’s pity protects his own flock while the poor man’s lamb is taken.
THE MEANING
This verse names a present pattern: abundance protects itself by making someone with less bear the cost. The rich man has flocks and herds, yet the poor man’s lamb becomes the meal. The guest’s arrival exposes whose loss is treated as acceptable.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that generosity toward one person excuses taking from another: hospitality built on someone else’s loss is still predation.
THE ROOT
וַיַּחְמֹל
vayachmol
GROWS FROM
חמל
ḥ-m-l
To spare, pity, or show compassion.
The verb translated “spared” is also the verb for having pity, so the word exposes where the rich man’s compassion stops. He protects his own stock from loss while treating the poor man’s lamb as available.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāmal: To spare or have pity.
חָמַל
This is the verb’s basic sense; its compassionate force sharpens the contrast between what the rich man protects and what he takes.
ḥemlah: Compassion or pity.
חֶמְלָה
This related noun makes clear that sparing carries a human dimension: pity for a vulnerable life, withheld here from the poor man’s lamb.
THE PATTERN
Abundance turns predatory when it protects its own appetite by making the vulnerable pay.
And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.THE THREAD
And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.The same Hebrew verb חמל (ḥāmal), meaning “to pity” or “spare,” appears when Pharaoh’s daughter has compassion on the crying child. Here the rich man withholds that pity from the poor man’s lamb while guarding his own flock; Exodus shows the same root extending compassion toward a vulnerable life.
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