What Does 2 Samuel 15:13 Mean in the King James?
And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
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 political turn begins in the place Hebrew names as the heart: Israel is already positioned “after” the one it follows.
THE MEANING
The report names an inward turn already under way: Israel’s heart is after Absalom. Allegiance is not only a public declaration; it is the inward direction of what the heart follows. A people’s shared direction is already taking shape wherever their hearts turn toward a new center.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a people’s allegiance changes only when they act publicly dissolves here: the turn is named in the heart itself.
THE ROOT
אַחֲרֵי
ʾaḥărê
GROWS FROM
אחר
The root ʾaḥar means to be behind, come after, or follow in sequence.
“after” in this verse is ʾaḥărê. אַחֲרֵי places the heart behind the one it follows, giving allegiance a direction rather than treating it as a label. The report reaches David (דָּוִד, Dāvîd), whose name is linked to דּוֹד (dôd, beloved), making the shift one of attachment as well as public alignment.
ALSO GROWS
ʾaḥărôn: last, later, or following
אַחֲרוֹן
This branch makes the root’s sense of sequence visible: what is after comes later in the line.
ʾaḥărît: latter end, outcome, or what comes afterward
אַחֲרִית
The root links following a direction with the outcome that comes after it.
לֵב
lēv
GROWS FROM
לבב
The root l-b-b, heard in the forms lēv and levav, names the inner center: heart, thought, and will.
The heart here is the inward center that chooses a direction, not only a place of feeling. Hebrew’s related verb can mean to encourage or give heart, showing how this inner center can move people toward courage and action.
ALSO GROWS
lēvāv: heart, inner person
לֵבָב
This fuller form preserves the doubled consonant of the root and points to the heart as the person’s inner center.
libbēv: to encourage, give heart
לִבֵּב
This verbal branch shows the heart as a source of resolve that can shape what a person does.
שָׁלוֹם
šālôm
GROWS FROM
שלם
The root š-l-m means to be whole, sound, or complete.
Absalom (אַבְשָׁלוֹם, ʾAvšālôm) joins אָב (ʾāv, father) and שָׁלוֹם (šālôm, peace or wholeness), often understood as “father of peace.” The contrast between that wholeness-bearing name and the divided allegiance in this verse stays open in the text.
ALSO GROWS
šālēm: whole, complete, sound
שָׁלֵם
This branch makes the root’s sense of wholeness explicit.
šillēm: to repay or recompense
שִׁלֵּם
The verb carries the sense of making good what is due, connecting wholeness with what has been restored or settled.
THE PATTERN
A people’s outward course begins in the direction their hearts follow.
My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD.For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?THE THREAD
And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.Both verses use אַחֲרֵי (ʾaḥărê, “after”): in this verse Israel’s heart is after Absalom; in 1 Kings, the people are described by who is after David’s house. The shared root lets inward direction and public following appear as one movement.
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