What Does 2 Samuel 23:31 Mean in the King James?

Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

2 Samuel 23:31 · 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

Azmaveth carries strength and death together in a name the English leaves untranslated.

THE MEANING

This verse presents two particular people, each named and tied to a place. Azmaveth’s name holds strength beside death, and the line leaves that tension intact. Shared purpose does not erase the distinct lives through which it is carried.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that only the leader deserves to be remembered: this line names the men beside him and ties each to a place.

THE ROOT

עַז

ʿaz

GROWS FROM

עזז

Be strong, grow mighty.

The name Azmaveth is commonly parsed with ⁨עַז⁩ (ʿaz, strong) as its first element. Paired with the word for death, strength stays joined to mortality inside the name.

ALSO GROWS

ʿoz: Strength, might.

עֹז

It shows the root’s force as a quality carried within the name.

maʿoz: Stronghold, refuge.

מָעוֹז

It extends strength from a personal quality to a place of shelter.

מָוֶת

māwet

GROWS FROM

מות

Die; death.

The second element of Azmaveth is the word for death. Joined to “strong,” it keeps mortality inside the name rather than reducing its bearer to strength alone.

ALSO GROWS

mût: To die.

מוּת

The verb shows the living action carried by the same root as the name’s second element.

māwet: Death.

מָוֶת

This is the noun embedded in Azmaveth, placing death beside strength in the name.

THE PATTERN

A shared work is remembered by preserving the distinct names of the people who carry it.

Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,

1 Chronicles 11:32 · KJVThe parallel roll call preserves these men by name and place, with Abi-albon appearing here as Abiel.

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 · KJVThe assembly’s shared work is carried by named people whose distinct ties and histories remain visible.

Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:

Romans 16:3 · KJVShared labor is remembered through the names of the two people who carry it together.

THE THREAD

Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,

1 Chronicles 11:32 · KJV

This parallel preserves the same names and places, while giving Abi-albon as Abiel. The two lists hold the people in view even as one name appears in a different form.

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