What Does 2 Samuel 18:25 Mean in the King James?
And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.
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 “tidings” names news carried by a messenger, so the king reads the runner’s arrival before he hears his words.
THE MEANING
A message can become legible before it is spoken: the king reads the runner’s solitude as a sign of tidings already carried in his mouth. The words are still on the way, but the arrival itself already means something.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the assumption that meaning begins only when words are spoken; a messenger’s arrival can already carry information.
THE ROOT
בְּשֹׂרָה
besorah
GROWS FROM
בשר
to announce or bring news, especially good tidings
English makes “tidings” sound like information detached from its bearer, while this Hebrew word belongs to a family that names both announcing and the person who brings the news. Here, the runner’s arrival lets the message become visible before it is heard.
ALSO GROWS
bisser: announced good news
בִּשֵּׂר
The verb makes the act of announcing explicit: the tidings the king anticipates are words the runner carries.
mevaser: one who brings good news
מְבַשֵּׂר
This names the bearer of the message, connecting the news in the runner’s mouth with the person approaching the king.
THE PATTERN
A messenger’s approach can carry news before the message is spoken.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.THE THREAD
Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.The same Hebrew noun, בְּשֹׂרָה (besorah, good tidings), appears in both verses. In each scene, news is already present before it reaches the king: here a lone runner carries it, and there the speakers recognize that it must be told.
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