What Does 2 Samuel 7:23 Mean in the King James?

And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

2 Samuel 7:23 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse makes redemption the way God’s nature becomes visible: a people reclaimed for God become living evidence of who God is.

THE MEANING

You are spoken of as a people God reclaims as God’s own, and that belonging becomes visible through great, awe-filled acts among you. “To make a name” means more than gaining a reputation: God’s nature is disclosed through what is done for you.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It dissolves the idea that deliverance is only escape: being brought out is also being claimed, making the nature of the one who acts known.

THE ROOT

לִפְדּוֹת

lifdot

GROWS FROM

פדה

To ransom, redeem, or recover someone from a claim or bondage.

“to redeem” in this verse is lifdot. The infinitive ⁨לִפְדּוֹת⁩ and the later ⁨פָּדִיתָ⁩ (“you redeemed”) bind the people’s beginning and identity to one act: God reclaims them as God’s own. Redemption here is movement into belonging, not simply departure from bondage.

ALSO GROWS

pādâ: To ransom or redeem.

פָּדָה

This dictionary form shows the root consonants ⁨פ־ד־ה⁩ that underlie the verse’s infinitive.

pādîtā: You redeemed.

פָּדִיתָ

This verse later uses the same weak-⁨ה⁩ verb in a conjugated form; the final ⁨ה⁩ changes to ⁨י⁩, but the form belongs to the root ⁨פדה⁩.

נוֹרָאוֹת

nora'ot

GROWS FROM

ירא

To fear, revere, or stand in awe.

The word translated “terrible” belongs to ⁨ירא⁩, whose range holds fear and awe together; with God as the actor, awe is more than alarm. The verse gives God’s acts a force that is wondrous and fearsome at once.

ALSO GROWS

yārēʾ: To fear, revere, or stand in awe.

יָרֵא

It carries the same root consonants ⁨י־ר־א⁩; when directed toward God, the word can name awe.

yirʾāh: Fear or awe.

יִרְאָה

This noun comes from the same root and keeps the verse’s sense of acts that inspire awe.

הַגְּדוּלָּה

haggədullāh

GROWS FROM

גדל

To grow, become great, or be great.

“great things” in this verse is haggədullāh. ⁨הַגְּדוּלָּה⁩ comes from ⁨גדל⁩, a root of growing or being great. Its scale is attached to what is done for the land and the people, not to a greatness they claim for themselves.

ALSO GROWS

gādal: To grow or become great.

גָּדַל

This verb preserves the root consonants ⁨גדל⁩ and shows greatness as something that grows or comes into view.

gādōl: Great or large.

גָּדוֹל

This adjective belongs to the same root and describes the scale expressed by ⁨הַגְּדוּלָּה⁩ in the verse.

THE PATTERN

Deliverance gathers a people into belonging, then makes the deliverer’s nature visible through acts.

And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Exodus 6:7 · KJVBeing brought out and being taken as God’s people are joined in one movement from bondage into belonging.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1 Peter 2:9 · KJVThose called out receive a shared identity that makes the nature of the one who calls them visible.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Revelation 5:9 · KJVThe same movement of redemption gathers people from many nations into belonging to God.

THE THREAD

But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 7:8 · KJV

Deuteronomy 7:8 uses the same ⁨פדה⁩ root and names love and the kept oath alongside the act of bringing the people out. It opens “redeemed for himself” as a reclaiming into faithful belonging.

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