What Does 2 Samuel 6:22 Mean in the King James?
And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour.
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
In Hebrew, honor is weight: David can be low in his own eyes and still carry weight among the women Michal dismisses.
THE MEANING
You can accept being seen as low by one person without becoming worthless: David’s lowered estimate of himself and the women’s honor stand together. The regard of people someone else dismisses can reveal the narrowness of that person’s measure of dignity.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the belief that accepting a lower place makes you contemptible to everyone: David expects honor among the very women Michal invokes.
THE ROOT
אִכָּבֵדָה
’ikkāḇēḏāh
GROWS FROM
כבד
To be heavy or weighty; figuratively, to carry weight or be honored.
“honour” in this verse is ’ikkāḇēḏāh. The Hebrew word for honor grows from the language of weight. David’s honor is set against being made light: the verse holds lowliness and weight together.
ALSO GROWS
kāvōḏ: Weight; honor or glory.
כָּבוֹד
The word for honor retains the image of weight, giving David’s honor a concrete sense of carrying weight.
kāvēḏ: Heavy; weighty.
כָּבֵד
This branch preserves the root’s physical sense and sharpens the contrast with being treated as light.
שָׁפָל
shāphāl
GROWS FROM
שפל
shāphal
To be low or brought down.
“base” in this verse is shāphāl. David is low in his own eyes while also expecting to be honored. The verse separates lowliness from worthlessness: one does not cancel the other.
ALSO GROWS
shiflut: Lowliness; humility.
שִׁפְלוּת
This noun names the condition David accepts in his own estimation.
shephelah: Lowland; lower country.
שְׁפֵלָה
The root also describes a low place in the landscape, making David’s language of being low concrete rather than merely abstract.
וּנְקַלֹּתִי
u-neqallōtî
GROWS FROM
קלל
To be light or slight; also to treat lightly or curse.
The root adds the image of becoming light or insignificant to the KJV’s word ‘vile.’ Set beside כבד (kāḇaḏ, weighty or honored), it reveals a deliberate contrast between what is treated as light and what carries weight.
ALSO GROWS
qal: Light; slight.
קַל
This adjective makes the lightness in David’s phrase audible.
qelalah: Curse; imprecation.
קְלָלָה
The same root can describe cursing or contempt, giving ‘vile’ a shade of being treated as insignificant.
THE PATTERN
Scripture places lowliness and honor together, loosening their assumed opposition.
A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:THE THREAD
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.This verse places כבד (kāḇaḏ, be weighty or honor) beside קלל (qālal, be light or be esteemed lightly), the same contrasting root-images heard in David’s reply. Their pairing makes the verse’s tension between lightness and honor part of a wider scriptural pattern.
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