2 Samuel 23 · Verse 3

2 Samuel 23:3

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
2 Samuel 23:3, King James Version

2 Samuel 23:3 in other translations

BSBThe God of Israel spoke; the Rock of Israel said to me, ‘He who rules the people with justice, who rules in the fear of God,
WEBThe God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,
ASVThe God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me: One that ruleth over men righteously, That ruleth in the fear of God,
YLTHe said--the God of Israel--to me, He spake--the Rock of Israel: He who is ruling over man is righteous, He is ruling in the fear of God.
DARBYThe God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, The ruler among men shall be just, Ruling in the fear of God;
BBEThe God of Israel said, the word of the Rock of Israel came to me: When an upright king is ruling over men, when he is ruling in the fear of God,
WebsterThe God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

What does 2 Samuel 23:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. the Rock of Israel--This metaphor, which is commonly applied by the sacred writers to the Almighty, was very expressive to the minds of the Hebrew people. Their national fortresses, in which they sought security in war, were built on high and inaccessible rocks. spake to me--either preceptively, giving the following counsels respecting the character of an upright ruler in Israel, or prophetically, concerning David and his royal dynasty, and the great Messiah, of whom many think this is a prophecy, rendering the words, "he that ruleth"--"there shall be a ruler over men."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 The Rock of Israel - The Fountain whence Israel was derived. He that ruleth over men must be just - More literally, מושל באדם צדיק moshel baadam tsaddik, He that ruleth in man is the just one; or, The just one is the ruler among men. Ruling in the fear of God - It is by God's fear that Jesus Christ rules the hearts of all his followers; and he who has not the fear of God before his eyes, can never be a Christian.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel 23:1-7

These words of David are very worthy of regard. Let those who have had long experience of God's goodness, and the pleasantness of heavenly wisdom, when they come to finish their course, bear their testimony to the truth of the promise. David avows his Divine inspiration, that the Spirit of God spake by him. He, and other holy men, spake and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. In many things he had his own…

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 23:1-7 →

2 Samuel 23:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אָמַר֙'a.Marhe saidH559
אֱלֹהֵ֣י'e.lo.Hei[the] God ofH430
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
לִ֥יlito <the> me
דִבֶּ֖רdi.Berhe spokeH1696
צ֣וּרtzur[the] rock ofH6697
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
מוֹשֵׁל֙mo.Shel[one who] rulesH4910
בָּאָדָ֔םba.'a.Damover <the> humankindH120
צַדִּ֕יקtza.DikrighteousH6662
מוֹשֵׁ֖לmo.Shel[one who] rulesH4910
יִרְאַ֥תyir.'At[the] fear ofH3374
אֱלֹהִֽים\׃'E.lo.HimGodH430

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Samuel 23:3

  • Deuteronomy 32:4

    He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

  • Exodus 18:21

    Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

  • 2 Samuel 22:32

    For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God?

  • Psalms 72:2

    He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

  • Hebrews 1:8

    But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

  • Zechariah 9:9

    Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

  • Exodus 23:6-8

    Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

  • Psalms 82:3-4

    Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

  • Deuteronomy 16:18-20

    Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

  • Deuteronomy 32:30-31

    How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

  • Psalms 42:9

    I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

  • Isaiah 11:1-5

    And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
God.
Ge 33:20; Ex 3:15; 19:5,6; 20:2
the Rock.
22:2,32; De 32:4,30,31; Ps 42:9
He that ruleth. or, Be thou ruler, etc.
Ps 110:2
must be just.
Ex 23:6-8; De 16:18-20; Ps 82:3,4; Pr 31:9; Isa 11:4,5; 32:1
Jer 23:5; Zec 9:9; Heb 1:8
ruling.
Ex 18:21; 2Ch 19:7-9; Ne 5:14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Samuel 23:2

    The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

  • 2 Samuel 23:3

    The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

  • 2 Samuel 23:4

    And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

Read all of 2 Samuel 23

2 Samuel 23:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El Dios de Israel ha dicho, hablóme el Fuerte de Israel: El señoreador de los hombres será justo, señoreador en temor de Dios.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Le Dieu d’Israël a dit, le Rocher d’Israël m’a parlé: Celui qui domine parmi les hommes sera juste, dominant en la crainte de Dieu,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Es hat gesprochen der Gott Israels, der Fels Israels zu mir geredet: Ein Herrscher unter den Menschen, gerecht, ein Herrscher in Gottesfurcht;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Dixit Deus Israël mihi, locutus est fortis Israël: Dominator hominum, justus dominator in timore Dei,