What Does 2 Samuel 9:6 Mean in the King James?
Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!
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 king speaks the bowed man’s name, so his posture never becomes his whole identity.
THE MEANING
A person can come before power with a lowered body and name themselves through service; direct address meets them by name. The scene holds bodily deference and personal recognition in the same encounter. “Behold thy servant” names his position, while “Mephibosheth” keeps the encounter personal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that submission makes someone nameless: even as he bows and calls himself a servant, David addresses him as Mephibosheth.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ
wayyishtachu
GROWS FROM
שחה
sh-ḥ-h
שחה (shachah) means to bow, bend low, or prostrate oneself.
English “did reverence” can sound like an inward attitude; the Hebrew verb shows a body lowering itself. That action echoes the preceding words, “he fell on his face,” making the posture visible rather than abstract.
ALSO GROWS
shachah: To bow oneself low.
שָׁחָה
This verb names the bodily gesture expressed when Mephibosheth bows before David.
hishtachavah: To bow down, prostrate oneself; to worship.
הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה
The same root appears in Psalm 95:6 as “worship,” showing how English can render this bowed posture as either reverence or worship according to its setting.
עַבְדֶּךָ
avdekha
GROWS FROM
עבד
ʿ-b-d
עָבַד (avad) means to work or serve; the root joins the servant to the act of service.
“thy servant” in this verse is avdekha. The English title “servant” can sound like a fixed status, while its root also carries the activity of working and serving. Mephibosheth’s answer names his place in relation to David, as his bowed posture makes that relation visible.
ALSO GROWS
avad: To work, serve.
עָבַד
The verb shows the action held inside the noun “servant.”
avodah: Work, service.
עֲבֹדָה
This related noun keeps labor and service connected to the identity Mephibosheth names for himself.
דָּוִד
Dawid
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d
דּוֹד (dod) means beloved; the name David carries that beloved association.
The name David bears the sense of the beloved. Here David speaks Mephibosheth’s name directly, bringing the speaker’s name and the man before him into a moment of personal recognition.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved; a loved one.
דּוֹד
This root sense is carried in the name David, the speaker in this encounter.
dodim: Loves, affections; beloved expressions of love.
דּוֹדִים
This related form shows the root’s connection to affection, adding depth to the name David as the one who addresses Mephibosheth.
THE PATTERN
A name spoken directly makes recognition personal, and the answer reveals the relationship taking shape.
And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.THE THREAD
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.The Hebrew behind “did reverence” comes from שחה (shachah, to bow down), the same root rendered “worship” in this invitation. The psalm shows that this lowered posture can be directed toward the Maker, while the present verse shows it before a king.
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