What Does 2 Samuel 16:7 Mean in the King James?
And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
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 curse is a way of making a person “light”: it strips a whole life down to the accuser’s labels.
THE MEANING
When accusation reaches you, it can compress a whole person into a charge: violent, worthless. The doubled “Come out” makes the attack public, while the verse marks those names as the speaker’s curse, not neutral description.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A label spoken with certainty is not the same as a true account of the person; the verse identifies these words as cursing.
THE ROOT
בְּקַלְלוֹ
bəqallô
GROWS FROM
קלל
קלל (q-l-l, qālal) carries the sense of being light or treating someone as insignificant; in this form, it means to curse.
“cursed” in this verse is bəqallô. The Hebrew word for cursing also belongs to a family that carries the sense of making light of someone. Shimei’s curse reduces David to the accusations that follow, while the verse keeps that reduction within Shimei’s speech.
ALSO GROWS
qālal: To be light or to treat as insignificant.
קָלַל
This branch shares the root קלל and reveals the devaluing force inside the curse.
qəlālāh: Curse or malediction.
קְלָלָה
This noun shares the same root and names the spoken act that the verse attributes to Shimei.
צֵא
tsēʾ
GROWS FROM
יצא
יצא (y-ts-ʾ, yāṣāʾ) means to go out or emerge.
“Come out” in this verse is tsēʾ. The command is repeated, pressing David to emerge into the accuser’s view. The root’s movement outward gives the words a force of exposure as well as expulsion.
ALSO GROWS
yāṣāʾ: To go out or come forth.
יָצָא
This verb shares the root יצא and makes the outward movement in the command explicit.
yetsiʾah: An exit or going out.
יְצִיאָה
This noun shares the root’s consonants and shows the same movement as a passage outward.
THE PATTERN
Cursing turns speech into an attempt to reduce a person to the speaker’s accusation.
And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.THE THREAD
And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.The same Hebrew root קלל (q-l-l, “curse; treat as insignificant”) appears in both verses. In each, a curse turns speech into a public attack on the person before the speaker.
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