What Does 2 Samuel 14:12 Mean in the King James?
Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
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 repeats one root for “speak” and “word”: she asks to speak a word, and the king answers with that same speaking word.
THE MEANING
A voice with less power asks for room before revealing its plea, and the king grants it. The exchange holds open the possibility of being heard before the answer is known.
THE ROOT
דַּבֵּר
dabbēr
GROWS FROM
ד־ב־ר
d-b-r
To speak or utter; the related noun means a word or matter.
“speak / word / say on” in this verse is dabbēr. The woman asks, “speak a word,” using the verb and noun from the same root, and the king’s “Say on” repeats the verb. Hebrew ties her request for speech to the word she wants to utter, while English makes the king’s reply sound like a separate formula.
ALSO GROWS
dibbēr: Speak, utter
דִּבֵּר
This verb appears in her request and again in the king’s permission to continue.
dābār: Word, matter
דָּבָר
The “one word” she asks to speak is the noun from this same root.
THE PATTERN
Words gain a hearing when space is made for the speaker before the answer is given.
Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.THE THREAD
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.The shared root ד־ב־ר links the requested “one word” here with the LORD’s word in the Psalm. The same seed holds speaking and the word spoken together, giving this small exchange a place in a wider pattern of words that carry consequence.
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