What Does 2 Samuel 20:6 Mean in the King James?
And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord’s servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.
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
A threat becomes harder to stop the moment it finds walls.
THE MEANING
A threat can seem containable while it is still moving; once it reaches fortified cities, it can resist capture and escape. David sees Sheba as capable of doing more harm than Absalom and orders pursuit before that shelter is reached.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the next threat is only a smaller replay of the last: Sheba may do greater harm than Absalom, especially if he reaches a stronghold.
THE ROOT
וּרְדֹף
u-redof
GROWS FROM
רדף
radaf
To follow after, chase, pursue.
English makes “pursue” sound like mere motion after someone, but this root also describes the pressure translated “persecute.” Here the sustained pursuit aims to keep Sheba from reaching fortified cities, where flight becomes entrenched resistance.
ALSO GROWS
rodef: One who follows or chases after another.
רֹדֵף
It makes clear that the verse depicts an active pursuer closing distance, not simply a general warning about danger.
redafuni: A form of the same root used for pursuit or persecution.
רְדָפוּנִי
It shows how the same action can become sustained pressure; here that pressure takes the form of a chase meant to prevent escape.
THE PATTERN
A threat still in motion can be intercepted, while refuge can change the pursuit into a longer struggle.
And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.THE THREAD
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.The Hebrew root רדף (radaf, “pursue”) appears in both verses. In one, pursuit is directed at a rebel before he reaches shelter; in the other, it is directed toward peace, revealing how the same forceful movement can follow very different aims.
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