What Does 2 Samuel 24:16 Mean in the King James?
And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
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
The destruction is already in motion, yet the word “stay” means “let the hand drop,” and the command stops the blow.
THE MEANING
A hand is poised over Jerusalem to destroy it, and the LORD says, “It is enough.” “Stay” carries the sense of loosening or letting the hand fall, so the attack stops. The angel remains beside the threshing floor as the destructive reach ends.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A destructive act, once set in motion, cannot be interrupted. Here, the command halts its reach.
THE ROOT
הֶרֶף
hereph
GROWS FROM
רפה
raphah
To loosen, slacken, or let drop.
“Stay” translates הֶרֶף (hereph), a command from רפה (raphah), meaning to loosen or let drop. The command names the release of the angel’s hand from its destructive reach.
ALSO GROWS
raphah: To slacken, release, or let go.
רָפָה
This verb gives the command its sense: the hand’s grip loosens.
harpu: Release; let go; be still, as a plural command.
הַרְפּוּ
The same root appears in Psalm 46:10, where “Be still” carries the sense of letting go.
וַיִּשְׁלַח
vayishlach
GROWS FROM
שלח
shalach
To send, send forth, or release.
The angel “stretched out” his hand with a verb from שלח (shalach), the root of sending forth and releasing. The hand’s outward sending toward Jerusalem is answered by the command to let it drop.
ALSO GROWS
shilleach: To send away, dismiss, or release.
שִׁלֵּחַ
This branch makes release part of the same root that describes the hand sent forth.
Shiloach: Shiloah, the name of Jerusalem’s sent-flowing waters.
שִׁלֹחַ
The root also names waters sent forth; here it describes a hand sent toward the city.
וַיִּנָּחֶם
vayinnachem
GROWS FROM
נחם
nacham
To relent, regret, or be comforted.
The word rendered “repented” comes from נחם (nacham), whose meanings include relenting and comfort. The verse holds the calamity and its reversal together: the LORD relents, and the destruction does not continue.
ALSO GROWS
nicham: To relent, regret, or be comforted.
נִחַם
This form shows the shift in course behind the verse’s “repented.”
tanchumim: Comforts or consolations.
תַּנְחוּמִים
The same root also yields comfort, placing relief within the root’s range of meanings.
THE PATTERN
When a destructive reach meets its limit, release and relenting can stop its course.
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.THE THREAD
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.The command translated “Be still” is הַרְפּוּ (harpu, release or let go), from the same root רפה (raphah, loosen or release) as “stay” here. In this verse the hand releases its destructive reach; in the psalm, release opens into knowing.
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