What Does 2 Samuel 2:24 Mean in the King James?
Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
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
Hebrew uses one root for chasing Abner and for goodness that follows, so the verb names the motion while the one pursuing gives it its character.
THE MEANING
The verse sets the chase alongside a boundary in time: Joab and Abishai pursue Abner as the sun sets at the hill. The named wilderness road makes the pursuit concrete, a movement across place as well as between people. You can see relentless motion unfolding within a finite stretch of light.
THE ROOT
רָדְפוּ
radfu
GROWS FROM
רדף
radaph
Pursue, chase after, follow.
This root forms words for a pursuer, pursuit, and one who is pursued: it names the motion and relation of the chase, not its moral character. The same verb describes goodness and mercy following someone, a connection English hides when it separates “pursued” from “follow.”
ALSO GROWS
rodef: A pursuer; one who pursues.
רֹדֵף
It names the one carrying the action in this verse.
redifah: Pursuit.
רְדִיפָה
It turns the verb into the chase itself, the sustained motion around which the verse is built.
nirdaf: One who is pursued or persecuted.
נִרְדָּף
It shows the same root from Abner’s side of the chase: pursuer and pursued are joined by one root.
בָּאָה
ba'ah
GROWS FROM
בוא
bo
Come, enter, arrive.
“went down” in this verse is ba'ah. The Hebrew marks the setting sun with a verb meaning “came” or “arrived.” Dusk arrives at the hill alongside the pursuit, giving the scene a boundary in time as well as a named place.
ALSO GROWS
ba: Came; arrived.
בָּא
It is another form of the root’s basic motion of coming into a place or moment.
yavo: He will come or enter.
יָבוֹא
It carries the same arrival forward, echoing how the verse marks dusk as something that comes upon the scene.
THE PATTERN
Pursuit is a motion that can be directed toward a person, toward goodness, or toward peace.
Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.THE THREAD
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.The word rendered “follow” in Psalm 23:6 comes from the same Hebrew root רדף (radaph), meaning pursue or follow, as “pursued” here. In this verse, the motion carries Joab and Abishai after Abner; in the psalm, it carries goodness and mercy after the speaker. One root holds both pursuits, while what follows gives the motion a different character.
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