What Does 2 Samuel 2:1 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
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
David’s ascent is aimed at Hebron, a name rooted in joining, so the destination itself carries a quiet image of connection.
THE MEANING
The verse holds direction in two moments: first permission to move, then the place where movement lands. For the reader now, the next step can become specific one answer at a time.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that direction must arrive all at once: David hears where to go only after he first hears, “Go up.”
THE ROOT
חֶבְרוֹן
Ḥevron
GROWS FROM
ח־ב־ר
ḥ-b-r
To join, associate, or bind together.
Hebron’s name grows from the root of joining and association. The English name leaves that resonance hidden, while the Hebrew lets the destination itself carry an image of connection.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāver: Companion; associate.
חָבֵר
A chaver is someone joined in association, giving Hebron’s name a resonance of companionship.
ḥibbūr: Joining; connection.
חִבּוּר
This branch names the act or result of joining, echoing the connective quality carried by Hebron’s name.
THE PATTERN
Guidance can unfold through a question, a received answer, and the next movement.
Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.THE THREAD
And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;The Hebrew verb for “went up” here is וַיַּעַל (wayyaʿal), from עָלָה (ʿālāh), “to rise” or “ascend”, the same root behind the LORD’s command “Go up” to David. In both verses, ascent marks a movement toward a specific encounter or destination.
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