What Does 2 Samuel 5:18 Mean in the King James?

The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

2 Samuel 5:18 · 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 verb translated “spread themselves” belongs to a Hebrew root also used for “cast off,” joining expansion and abandonment within one root-family.

THE MEANING

Opposition can arrive and occupy the open ground before any answer appears. The Philistines spread across the valley, and the outcome remains unstated.

THE ROOT

וַיִּנָּטְשׁוּ

wayyinnāṭəšū

GROWS FROM

נטש

n-ṭ-sh

To leave, abandon, or cast off; in this form, to spread out.

“spread themselves” in this verse is wayyinnāṭəšū. The same root can describe spreading out here and casting off elsewhere. English gives those actions separate words, while Hebrew holds them in one root-family, extension and relinquishment sharing a seed.

ALSO GROWS

wayyinnāṭəšū: They spread themselves out.

וַיִּנָּטְשׁוּ

This is the form used for the Philistines occupying the valley.

yiṭṭōš: He casts off or abandons.

יִטֹּשׁ

Psalm 94:14 uses this form for what the LORD will not do to his people, showing the same root in a different branch of meaning.

THE PATTERN

A conflict becomes visible when force gathers into a place before the encounter.

And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

1 Samuel 17:3 · KJVOpposing forces take their places across a valley before the encounter begins.

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Joel 3:14 · KJVThe gathering in the valley makes the coming judgment visible.

And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Revelation 16:16 · KJVThe forces are brought together at a named place before the conflict.

THE THREAD

For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

Psalm 94:14 · KJV

The Hebrew verb translated “cast off” is from the same root as “spread themselves” in this verse. English separates the Philistines’ spreading from the refusal to abandon, while Hebrew connects both meanings in one root-family.

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