What Does 2 Samuel 14:5 Mean in the King James?

And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.

2 Samuel 14:5 · 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 word for “widow” may echo silence, yet her answer makes the loss speak plainly.

THE MEANING

Widowhood is the stated answer to the king’s question, and “my husband is dead” names the loss behind it. The verse keeps the claim concrete: a living woman describes her condition through the death of the man bound to her.

THE ROOT

אַלְמָנָה

ʾalmānāh

GROWS FROM

א־ל־ם

ʾ-l-m

To be silent or mute; the proposed link between this root and “widow” is uncertain.

⁨אַלְמָנָה⁩ (ʾalmānāh, widow) is traditionally connected with ⁨אָלַם⁩ (ʾālam, be silent or mute), though the etymology is uncertain. That proposed echo gives “widow” an undertone of silence, even as this verse lets the woman voice her loss directly.

ALSO GROWS

ʾillēm: Unable to speak.

אִלֵּם

This related form supplies the suggestive silence echo in “widow,” without making the derivation certain.

tēʾalamnāh: May they be silenced.

תֵּאָלַמְנָה

This verb form shows the root’s connection with silence, adding a possible undertone to the name she gives herself.

THE PATTERN

Widowhood is named as a vulnerable condition that calls for protection and care.

Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

Exodus 22:22 · KJVIt names the widow as someone whose exposed condition must not be exploited.

A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

Psalm 68:5 · KJVIt names widows among those for whom divine care and judgment are declared.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 1:27 · KJVIt connects the widow’s affliction with the presence and care that define pure devotion.

THE THREAD

Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

Exodus 22:22 · KJV

Exodus uses the same Hebrew word ⁨אַלְמָנָה⁩ (ʾalmānāh, widow), naming the condition in this verse as one to be protected from affliction. The repeated word turns her answer into more than a label: it names a recognized vulnerability.

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