What Does 2 Samuel 19:1 Mean in the King James?

And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.

2 Samuel 19:1 · KJV

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 report makes the king’s grief public, while the name of the son he mourns holds father and wholeness together.

THE MEANING

Your grief does not become less real because others see it. When what is happening inside you is told, it enters the awareness of people around you; this verse leaves the king’s sorrow visible.

THE ROOT

וַיֻּגַּד

wayyuggad

GROWS FROM

נ־ג־ד

n-g-d

to declare, make known, or tell

“told” in this verse is wayyuggad. The passive verb shows the king’s sorrow arriving as news: someone makes it known to Joab. A related form means in front of, making the movement vivid: grief inside the king is brought before another person.

ALSO GROWS

neged: in front of; opposite

נֶגֶד

This related form echoes how the king’s inward grief is brought before Joab’s awareness.

nagid: leader; ruler

נָגִיד

This related word for a leader echoes that the report reaches a commander within the king’s circle.

אַבְשָׁלוֹם

Avshalom

GROWS FROM

ש־ל־ם

sh-l-m

to be whole, complete, or sound

“Absalom” in this verse is Avshalom. The name combines ⁨אָב⁩ (av, father) and ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, wholeness), placing father and wholeness inside the name of the one for whom the king grieves. That adds a quiet ache: the father mourns a son whose name bears wholeness.

ALSO GROWS

shalom: wholeness; completeness

שָׁלוֹם

This is the name’s second element, so wholeness is held inside the name of the son the king mourns.

shalem: whole; intact

שָׁלֵם

This related form gives the root’s sense of wholeness a concrete shape, deepening the name’s echo in the scene of grief.

THE PATTERN

When grief is made visible, it enters the shared emotional life of those who hear or witness it.

And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.

2 Samuel 19:2 · KJVOnce the people hear of the king’s grief, the day’s victory becomes mourning across the group.

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

John 11:33 · KJVJesus sees Mary and those with her weeping, and the shared grief reaches him too.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Romans 12:15 · KJVGrief appears as something people share with one another, rather than carry in isolation.

THE THREAD

And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

2 Samuel 18:33 · KJV

The word translated wept here and weepeth in 19:1 comes from ⁨ב־כ־ה⁩ (b-k-h, to weep). The earlier cry is the king’s direct grief for his son; now that grief is being reported to Joab, moving from a father’s voice into the awareness of others.

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