What Does 2 Samuel 13:35 Mean in the King James?

And Jonadab said unto the king, Behold, the king’s sons come: as thy servant said, so it is.

2 Samuel 13:35 · 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 servant’s “word” is also a “matter” in Hebrew, so the sons’ arrival is where what was said becomes visible.

THE MEANING

A report is weighed against what stands before you: the king’s sons have arrived, and the servant’s word matches the scene. The confirmation is exact but partial: the sons are here, while Amnon’s death remains.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that all the king’s sons are dead is overturned: the sons arrive, though Amnon is dead.

THE ROOT

דְּבַר

devar

GROWS FROM

דבר

davar

To speak or say; its noun family includes word, matter, and thing.

The KJV renders this as “as thy servant said,” while Hebrew phrases it as “according to the word of your servant”: ⁨דְּבַר⁩ (devar, “word of”). The word-family can name a word, a matter, or a thing, so the sons’ arrival is the matter that makes the servant’s speech visible.

ALSO GROWS

davar: Word, matter, or thing

דָּבָר

This noun holds speech and the matter being spoken of within the same word-family.

dibber: Spoke or declared

דִּבֵּר

This verb shares the root’s consonants, linking the servant’s speaking with the matter now confirmed.

בָּאוּ

ba'u

GROWS FROM

בוא

To come, enter, or arrive.

English “come” can suggest motion toward someone; this root also carries the sense of entering or arriving. The sons are already present, where the servant’s earlier word can be checked against the scene.

ALSO GROWS

ba: Came or arrived

בָּא

This form makes the arrival concrete: the sons have reached the king.

mavo: Entrance or entry

מָבוֹא

This branch carries the root’s sense of coming into a place, sharpening the arrival as presence.

THE PATTERN

A spoken claim becomes legible through what comes to pass.

When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 18:22 · KJVA spoken claim is tested by whether the named thing follows and comes to pass.

Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

Jeremiah 1:12 · KJVThe word is carried toward its performance, joining what is spoken to what is done.

And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

Mark 14:72 · KJVPeter’s memory of Jesus’ words meets the exact event Jesus named.

THE THREAD

And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.

1 Kings 17:24 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨דבר⁩ (davar, “word, matter”) to hold a spoken message beside what is now present. In this verse, the sons’ arrival confirms the servant’s word; in 1 Kings, the woman recognizes the LORD’s word as truth after her son is restored.

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