What Does 2 Samuel 5:15 Mean in the King James?

Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,

2 Samuel 5:15 · 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

This list compresses choosing, deliverance, and brightness into names, treating a name as more than a label.

THE MEANING

Here, a name carries nature in miniature: Ibhar holds the sense of choosing, Elishua points to God as deliverance, and Japhia carries the sense of shining forth. The line lets identity appear as something spoken into a name.

THE ROOT

אֱלִישׁוּעַ

ʾĔlîšûaʿ

GROWS FROM

ישע

Deliver, bring out; deliverance.

The deliverance element in Elishua belongs to the same root as the verb translated “saved.” The name carries an action within it: being brought out.

ALSO GROWS

yāšaʿ: Deliver; bring out.

יָשַׁע

This verb gives the name’s deliverance element an active sense: someone is brought out of danger or constriction.

yešûʿāh: Deliverance.

יְשׁוּעָה

This noun names the same root’s outcome, making Elishua read as a declaration about God’s nature.

יִבְחָר

Yibḥār

GROWS FROM

בחר

Choose; select.

Ibhar carries choosing as an action inside the name. The same root can name both the act of choosing and what is chosen, so the name holds agency and selection together.

ALSO GROWS

bāḥar: Choose; select.

בָּחַר

This is the verb behind Ibhar’s sense of “he chooses.”

mibḥār: Choice; choicest selection.

מִבְחָר

This branch shows the root can describe both choosing and the selected thing.

יָפִיעַ

Yāfîaʿ

GROWS FROM

יפע

Shine forth; appear in brightness.

Japhia carries brightness as something that appears and shines forth. The name’s root gives radiance a movement from hidden to visible.

ALSO GROWS

yāfaʿ: Shine forth.

יָפַע

This verb shares the name’s root and makes its brightness active.

hôfîaʿ: Appear; shine forth.

הוֹפִיעַ

This form shows the root’s sense of brightness becoming visible.

THE PATTERN

A scriptural name can carry its bearer’s nature or calling in compressed form.

Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

Genesis 17:5 · KJVThe changed name carries the new calling that is spoken over Abraham.

And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

Isaiah 62:2 · KJVA name given by the LORD marks a nature made visible to others.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1:21 · KJVThe name Jesus is joined directly to the deliverance his life brings.

THE THREAD

So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

1 Samuel 23:5 · KJV

Elishua (⁨אֱלִישׁוּעַ⁩, ʾĔlîšûaʿ) carries the root ⁨יָשַׁע⁩ (yāšaʿ), “deliver, bring out,” which appears as “saved” here. The name’s compact claim opens into an actual movement: people are brought out of danger.

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