Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Samuel 3:38 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 38. 38And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “David Laments Abner and Names His Own Weakness.”
David makes Abner's funeral a public judgment on the killing
This verse is one part of that explanation in 2 Samuel 3:31–39. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 3:31–39
Read 2 Samuel 3:38 with 3:31–39. The wording “And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great…” supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: David orders public mourning, follows Abner's bier, refuses food, laments a fallen prince, and calls Joab's family hard while admitting royal weakness.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “David Laments Abner and Names His Own Weakness,” 2 Samuel 3:38 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Samuel 3:22–30 establishes this prior movement: Joab challenges David's trust, recalls Abner, and kills him in revenge for Asahel while the narrator separates David from the act. 2 Samuel 3:31–39 responds to the pressure already established; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains its placement.
What Remains True
Faithful leadership is measured by truth, restraint, justice, repair, and the treatment of people with less power rather than by title, victory, popularity, or narrative prominence. In this unit, that truth is tested by the concrete movement: David orders public mourning, follows Abner's bier, refuses food, laments a fallen prince, and calls Joab's family hard while admitting royal weakness. In 2 Samuel 3:38, the concrete line “And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 2 Samuel 3:31–39 — David Laments Abner and Names His Own WeaknessSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 2 Samuel 3:31-39, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated verbs, names, syntax, and the base text behind translation and textual discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Sam.xml, 3:31-39
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Samuel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Unit-bounded wording, older-English clarification, textual witnesses, syntax, names, numbers, and major historical or literary notes actually printed for these verses.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 547–550, translation and all translator notes attached to 3:31-39
Open source ↗