What Does 2 Samuel 24:20 Mean in the King James?
And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
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
Araunah’s recognition moves from seeing the king to a bodily answer: he steps out and lowers his face to the ground.
THE MEANING
As the king comes into view, Araunah’s perception becomes visible in his movement: he goes out and bows face-first toward the ground. The encounter takes shape in his posture, not only in what he sees.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The idea that recognition is only inward gives way here: Araunah’s body makes his response visible.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ
vayishtachu
GROWS FROM
שחה
shachah
to bow down, bend low, or prostrate oneself
“bowed himself” in this verse is vayishtachu. The same Hebrew root appears in KJV passages rendered both “bow” and “worship,” holding bodily posture and reverence together. Here, Araunah’s face toward the ground gives that posture a visible shape.
ALSO GROWS
vayishtachu: Abraham bows low when he meets the visitors.
וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ
The same root presents bowing as a bodily response to an encounter.
vayishtachu: Joshua falls face-down and bows before the captain of the LORD’s host.
וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ
The KJV’s “did worship” carries the same root whose physical posture is explicit in Araunah’s face-to-ground bow.
וַיַּרְא
vayyar
GROWS FROM
ראה
ra'ah
to see, look at, or perceive
“saw” in this verse is vayyar. This root links seeing with forms meaning “seer” and “appearance.” In this sentence, seeing is the hinge between the king’s approach and Araunah’s movement out.
ALSO GROWS
ro'eh: A person who sees or perceives.
רֹאֶה
The form names the one who performs the act at the center of Araunah’s response.
mar'eh: What appears or is seen.
מַרְאֶה
The shared root joins the perceiver to what comes into view: Araunah sees the king, then acts.
THE PATTERN
The presence of authority draws an embodied answer: bodies bow, kneel, or lower themselves.
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;THE THREAD
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?Joshua 5:14 uses שחה (shachah, bow down), the same Hebrew root as Araunah’s bow. Both verses place the face toward the earth, making reverence a posture the body carries.
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