What Does 2 Samuel 23:29 Mean in the King James?

Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,

2 Samuel 23:29 · 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

Ittai is named through a chain of belonging, father, town, and tribe, so identity appears in relation, not isolation.

THE MEANING

The verse makes Ittai present through three ties: his father, the town he comes from, and his people. It shows a person’s name held within family, place, and belonging.

THE ROOT

בִּנְיָמִין

Binyamin

GROWS FROM

ימן

y-m-n

The root marks the right side or right hand.

The name combines ⁨בֵּן⁩ (ben, son) and ⁨יָמִין⁩ (yamin, right hand), so “children of Benjamin” names a people whose tribal name already carries sonship. The English proper name preserves the lineage while leaving that image less visible.

ALSO GROWS

yamin: Right hand; right side

יָמִין

This is the element in Benjamin’s name that carries the image of the right hand.

yemini: Benjamite; one belonging to Benjamin

יְמִינִי

This related form connects the right-side root to the name of the people identified in the verse.

גִּבְעָה

Giv'ah

GROWS FROM

גבע

g-b-ʿ

To rise into a hill or rounded height.

Gibeah carries “hill” inside a place name that English usually presents only as a location label. Ittai is located in terrain and in a people at once: the hill-place within Benjamin.

ALSO GROWS

giv'ah: Hill; elevated place

גִּבְעָה

This is the word behind the place name Gibeah, giving the location a landscape meaning.

geva: Hill; Geba, a place name

גֶּבַע

This related form shows the same hill-root appearing in another place name.

THE PATTERN

Scripture keeps people visible by recording the names, ties, and places that locate them within a people.

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

1 Samuel 9:1 · KJVKish is identified through his name, ancestry, and tribe, much as Ittai is located through his father, town, and people.

And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.

Luke 8:2-3 · KJVThe women are made visible by their names and the relationships and roles that locate them.

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

Acts 13:1 · KJVThis list locates each named person through a distinguishing name, place, or relationship.

THE THREAD

Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,

1 Chronicles 11:30 · KJV

This roster preserves the same chain around Ittai: Ribai, Gibeah, and Benjamin. The repeated structure shows how the line keeps him identifiable through his ties and place.

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