What Does 2 Samuel 24:6 Mean in the King James?

Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon,

2 Samuel 24:6 · 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

The repeated Hebrew verb “they came” makes this list a measure of reach: each named arrival carries the sweep farther.

THE MEANING

You see the survey advance through named places: Gilead, Tahtim-hodshi, Dan-jaan, then around toward Zidon. Each arrival marks another point in the widening sweep, making the extent of the movement visible.

THE ROOT

וַיָּבֹאוּ

wayyāḇōʾû

GROWS FROM

בוא

To come, enter, or arrive

The Hebrew repeats ⁨וַיָּבֹאוּ⁩, “they came,” twice, making arrival the verse’s organizing beat: the list advances by entry points. The same root yields ⁨מָבוֹא⁩, an entrance, and ⁨תְּבוּאָה⁩, produce that comes in, holding arrival and incoming yield together.

ALSO GROWS

māvoʾ: Entrance; entryway

מָבוֹא

This branch makes explicit the sense of coming into a place that underlies the repeated arrivals.

tevuʾāh: Produce; yield

תְּבוּאָה

The root also names what comes in as a harvest, extending the sense of arrival from a place to its incoming yield.

סָבִיב

sāvîv

GROWS FROM

סבב

To turn, go around, or encircle

The word translated “about” gives the line a curved edge: after Dan-jaan, the reach is described around toward Zidon. Its consonantal family carries the sense of circling and surrounding, so the phrase maps a perimeter as well as a destination.

ALSO GROWS

sāvaḇ: To turn or go around

סָבַב

This verb shares the root consonants and clarifies the circling motion in the verse’s “about.”

sōvēḇ: Turning; circling

סוֹבֵב

This form makes the surrounding movement visible in the word family behind the route.

THE PATTERN

Movement through a place becomes visible when the text names the places reached and the extent covered.

Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

Genesis 13:17 · KJVThe land’s reach is made visible through movement across its length and breadth.

And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.

Joshua 18:9 · KJVThe passage turns travel through the land into a record organized by the places reached.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 1:8 · KJVThe named regions trace movement outward from one place toward the earth’s farthest reach.

THE THREAD

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Psalm 24:7 · KJV

Psalm 24:7 uses the same Hebrew root ⁨בוא⁩ (bōʾ, “come” or “enter”) for the King’s entry. Here, repeated arrivals trace movement across regions; there, arrival meets a gate. The shared verb lets this itinerary echo the image of reaching a threshold and entering.

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