What Does 2 Samuel 19:36 Mean in the King James?

Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?

2 Samuel 19:36 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Hebrew uses one root for both “recompense” and “reward,” making the size of the return the verse’s hidden question.

THE MEANING

A short measure of companionship can be met with a return that feels far larger than the act. The verse places the little crossing beside the king’s recompense, letting the gap between them remain visible.

THE ROOT

יִגְמְלֵנִי

yigmeleni

GROWS FROM

גמל

g-m-l

To deal with, repay, or requite; in some contexts, to deal bountifully.

“recompense / reward” in this verse is yigmeleni. English gives these forms two words, but Hebrew repeats the consonants ⁨ג־מ־ל⁩: “why should the king gamal me the gemul?” The verb marks dealing or requiting; the noun names that return, so the verse focuses attention on the scale of the king’s response.

ALSO GROWS

gemul: Recompense, reward, or what is rendered in return.

גְּמוּל

This noun completes the verb in the verse: one root names both the king’s act and the reward offered.

gamal: To deal bountifully, as in Psalm 13:6.

גָּמַל

This branch shows the root can carry generous dealing as well as repayment, widening the sense of the king’s proposed return.

THE PATTERN

Scripture holds giving and recompense together, making the scale of what comes back visible.

I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13:6 · KJVThe same root gamal describes the LORD’s bountiful dealing, showing its generous range.

And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Matthew 10:42 · KJVA small act of giving and the reward that follows it appear together, as the little crossing does beside the king’s recompense.

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

1 Corinthians 3:8 · KJVThe verse pairs labor with what each person receives, keeping the act and its return in view.

THE THREAD

I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13:6 · KJV

“Hath dealt bountifully” translates a form of ⁨גמל⁩ (gamal), the same root repeated in “recompense” and “reward” here. The shared root carries both generous dealing and repayment, widening what the king’s offered return can mean.

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