What Does 2 Samuel 17:17 Mean in the King James?
Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.
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 message reaches David because danger reroutes it through an unnamed woman instead of stopping it.
THE MEANING
A direct path can be unsafe while a message still finds its way forward through a relay. An unnamed young woman carries the report to the hidden messengers, and they carry it on to David. The danger changes the route; it does not silence the message.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If I cannot reach someone directly, what I know cannot reach them.
THE ROOT
וַתַּגֵּד
wattagged
GROWS FROM
נגד
To tell, declare, or make known; related forms also mean before or in front of.
“told” in this verse is wattagged. The verb appears in both handoffs: she tells the messengers, and they tell David. The repeated root makes each person’s part of the relay the same act of making the message known.
ALSO GROWS
maggid: One who tells or declares.
מַגִּיד
The woman and the men each take their turn as the one who declares the message.
neged: Before, in front of, or opposite.
נֶגֶד
The related sense of bringing something before someone illuminates how the report is carried to each new hearer.
nagid: A leader, ruler, or prince.
נָגִיד
The report’s final recipient is David, the king; the same root also names one who stands at the head.
THE PATTERN
Critical knowledge can change the course of events through people outside the center of power.
And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?THE THREAD
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.Both passages use the root נגד: here the woman tells the hidden messengers, and there the firmament “sheweth” God’s handiwork. The same root spans a guarded report passed hand to hand and a declaration spread across the sky.
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