What Does 2 Samuel 16:9 Mean in the King James?
Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
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 verb translated “curse” also means to make light of someone, and Abishai answers that assault on the king’s standing with a literal proposal to remove a man’s head.
THE MEANING
You see contempt against someone in authority become a plan for lethal retaliation almost at once. The verse keeps the proposed beheading in plain view, showing how a defense of honor can cross into violence.
THE ROOT
יְקַלֵּל
yəqallēl
GROWS FROM
ק־ל־ל
q-l-l
To be light or slight; in this form, to make light of someone, treat them as contemptible, or curse them.
“curse” in this verse is yəqallēl. The Hebrew verb carries the sense of diminishing someone, as if making them count for little. Abishai answers that verbal lowering with the literal removal of a head.
ALSO GROWS
qal: Light, slight, of little weight.
קַל
This sense gives the root’s curse its force: the speaker treats the king as insignificant.
qəlālāh: A curse or reviling.
קְלָלָה
This noun from the same root names the hostile speech Abishai wants answered with a beheading.
THE PATTERN
A perceived insult can provoke an impulse to repay it with violence, while restraint interrupts the escalation.
And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.THE THREAD
And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?The next verse repeats the same root, ק־ל־ל (q-l-l, to be light or make light), when David says, “let him curse,” but he does not accept Abishai’s proposal to answer the insult with a beheading. David’s name, דָּוִד (Dāwīd, beloved), sharpens the scene: the beloved receives contempt without turning immediately to retaliation.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us