What Does 2 Samuel 3:11 Mean in the King James?
And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he feared him.
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 answer Ish-bosheth cannot give is a word he cannot send back, because fear has narrowed his voice.
THE MEANING
Fear of another person can close a voice before a reply forms. The silence shows what fear is doing; it does not settle whether the other person is right.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Silence does not prove agreement or lack of an answer; fear can make a person unable to respond.
THE ROOT
לְהָשִׁיב
lehashiv
GROWS FROM
שוב
shuv
To turn or return.
The verb translated answer comes from the root for turning or returning: a reply is a word sent back. Here fear interrupts that return, leaving Ish-bosheth unable to answer Abner.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Turn, return.
שׁוּב
It exposes the movement inside answering: something is turned back in response.
heshiv: Return, restore, or respond.
הֵשִׁיב
This form shows how the root’s sense of returning can describe giving an answer.
מִיִּרְאָתוֹ
miyyir'ato
GROWS FROM
ירא
yare
To fear or stand in awe.
“feared” in this verse is miyyir'ato. The object here is Abner, so the word describes fear of another person’s power. The same root can express awe when directed toward God; what this fear does depends on whom it faces.
ALSO GROWS
yare: Fear or stand in awe.
יָרֵא
This verb carries the same root into the act of fearing.
yirah: Fear or awe.
יִרְאָה
The noun makes clear that the root can name either fear or reverence, with the object shaping its force.
THE PATTERN
Fear of human power can narrow a person’s ability to speak, respond, or remain present.
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.THE THREAD
But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.The midwives’ fear uses the same root, ירא (yare), as Ish-bosheth’s fear of Abner. Here fear of God leads them to refuse a king’s command, showing how the one root can mark very different responses depending on whom the fear faces.
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