What Does 2 Samuel 13:7 Mean in the King James?
Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him meat.
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
In this verse, a father’s command sends Tamar into the reach of danger he cannot see.
THE MEANING
A trusted person’s instruction can send you into the reach of danger they cannot see. Tamar is directed to prepare food at Amnon’s house; the surrounding scene reveals the trap beneath an ordinary task. Being sent by someone with authority does not itself make a place safe.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This verse undoes the belief that a father’s command makes the place he sends you safe.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁלַח
wayyišlaḥ
GROWS FROM
שׁ־ל־ח
sh-l-ḥ
Send forth, dispatch.
“sent” in this verse is wayyišlaḥ. The same three consonants form words for sending forth and sending away, but the root does not promise that every sending brings release. Here, the destination exposes whether the movement opens freedom or danger.
ALSO GROWS
shalleaḥ: To send away, dismiss, or let go.
שַׁלֵּחַ
This branch shows how sending can become release; David’s sending of Tamar does not free her, because its destination places her in danger.
mishloaḥ: A sending forth or dispatch.
מִשְׁלוֹחַ
It makes the act of sending itself visible: a command carries someone outward, and the place they are sent determines what follows.
THE PATTERN
A sending opens a destination whose consequences depend on the sender’s purpose and what the sender can see.
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.THE THREAD
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.Both verses use שָׁלַח (shalach), meaning “send forth.” Moses is sent toward Pharaoh so people can be brought out; Tamar is sent to Amnon’s house, into danger. The shared root names the movement, while the destination reveals what that sending does.
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