What Does 1 Chronicles 11:9 Mean?
So David walked on, and grew greater and greater, for the LORD of hosts was with him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him.THE KEY
The verse pictures greatness as a path still being walked, with the LORD of hosts present along it.
THE MEANING
For you, greatness is pictured as an ongoing path: David keeps going and growing while the LORD of hosts is with him. Presence accompanies the becoming, before it reaches a final measure.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that you must first reach greatness before the LORD can be with you; the verse places presence alongside the growing.
THE ROOT
וְגָדוֹל
wə-gādôl
GROWS FROM
גדל
To grow, become great, or increase.
The Hebrew pairs “going” with “growing great,” so greatness remains a movement in progress. The English “waxed greater and greater” conveys increase while the Hebrew also keeps the image of a path being traveled.
ALSO GROWS
gādal: To grow or become great.
גָּדַל
This verb makes greatness an unfolding process, as it is for David here.
higdîl: To make great or magnify.
הִגְדִּיל
The same root can describe greatness being enlarged, adding a sense of increase to David’s ongoing growth.
הָלוֹךְ
hālôkh
GROWS FROM
הלך
To go or walk.
“walked on” in this verse is hālôkh. The word translated “waxed” is formed from the root for going or walking. In the Hebrew phrase, David is going onward as he grows great; increase itself is pictured as a journey.
ALSO GROWS
hālak: To go or walk.
הָלַךְ
This basic form makes the verse’s movement literal in its wording.
hōlēkh: One who goes or walks.
הוֹלֵךְ
This related form keeps the idea of someone continuing along a way.
דָּוִד
Dāwîḏ
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; the name David is associated with דּוֹד (dôd), “beloved.”
The name adds the resonance of the beloved to the verse’s picture of ongoing growth. David’s name and his becoming great sit alongside the LORD of hosts being with him.
ALSO GROWS
dôd: Beloved or loved one.
דּוֹד
This is the name-nature associated with David.
dôd: Uncle or close male kinsman.
דּוֹד
The same Hebrew word can also name a close family relation, carrying an additional sense of intimacy.
THE PATTERN
Greatness unfolds through ongoing movement in the company of divine presence.
And the man grew great, and walked on, and grew, until he became very great.They walk from strength to strength, and each one of them appears before God in Zion.And Jesus cut his way forward in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and humankind.THE THREAD
And the man grew great, and walked on, and grew, until he became very great.Genesis uses the same root גדל (gadal), “grow, become great,” and also describes forward movement. Together the verses show greatness as an unfolding path rather than a finished state.
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