What Does 2 Samuel 3:22 Mean in the King James?
And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but Abner was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace.
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 troop returns with שָׁלָל (shalal, spoil) while Abner leaves in שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness): their shared opening sound echoes without making them one root, setting what is seized beside the man who is released.
THE MEANING
The verse holds plundered abundance and a peaceful departure in one frame. Peace describes the terms of Abner’s leaving, while the danger around him remains unresolved; his release is not a guarantee of safety.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A peaceful parting does not prove that danger is over.
THE ROOT
שִׁלְּחוֹ
shilləḥô
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
To send, send forth, or release.
“sent him away” in this verse is shilləḥô. David’s action carries the sense of letting Abner go, not merely recording that he travels elsewhere. The same root can describe a dismissal and something sent forth, so the phrase holds both departure and release.
ALSO GROWS
shilluaḥ: Sending away; dismissal.
שִׁלּוּחַ
It makes the release in David’s action explicit.
Shiloach: Sent forth; the name of a spring or pool.
שִׁילוֹחַ
The same send-forth root also describes water flowing outward.
בְּשָׁלוֹם
bəshalom
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or sound.
Shalom carries wholeness and well-being beneath the sense of peace. The word describes Abner’s departure as whole in that moment, without promising that the surrounding danger has ended.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete, or sound.
שָׁלֵם
This branch makes the wholeness inside shalom visible.
shillem: To repay or make good.
שִׁלֵּם
The same root family can express making something complete or settling what is owed.
דָּוִד
Dawid
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d
Beloved; a close male relative.
David’s name carries the nature of belovedness. Abner’s release from being “with David” therefore has a relational dimension as well as the simple fact of departure.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved; also a close male relative.
דּוֹד
This word carries the belovedness associated with David’s name.
dodi: My beloved.
דּוֹדִי
The possessive form makes the name’s relational sense explicit.
THE PATTERN
Peace can name a departure, rest, or desire for wholeness while the larger conflict remains unresolved.
So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:THE THREAD
And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.Joab later draws Abner aside and kills him, exposing the limit of the peace named at his departure. The verse describes how Abner leaves; it does not secure what happens after.
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