What Does 1 Chronicles 14:15 Mean?
And it shall be, when you hear the sound of footsteps in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall stir yourself for battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.
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
And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle: for God is gone forth before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.THE KEY
The sound in the treetops signals that God has already gone out ahead, so David’s movement into battle follows an advance already underway.
THE MEANING
You do not enter this conflict as the first mover: the sound of marching in the treetops marks a movement already underway ahead of you. Your going out meets a path opened in front of you, while the confrontation itself remains real, the Philistine host is still there to be struck.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that you must force the opening yourself: here the signal comes first, and God’s advance comes before the battle.
THE ROOT
יָצָא
yāṣāʾ
GROWS FROM
יצא
To go out, come forth, or emerge.
“go out / gone forth” in this verse is yāṣāʾ. Both “go out” (David) and “gone forth” (God) come from יָצָא (yatsa, to go out), so Hebrew places their departures in one movement. The order is the revelation: God goes out before David enters the battle; David’s action follows an advance already in motion.
ALSO GROWS
motsāʾ: A going out, issue, or that which proceeds.
מוֹצָא
In Deuteronomy 8:3 this root names what “proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD,” showing how going out can describe what emerges from a source.
totsāʾot: Outgoings or boundaries, the points where something reaches its end.
תּוֹצָאוֹת
This branch carries the root’s sense of movement outward to its limits, echoing the advance that reaches ahead of David.
צְעָדָה
tseʿādāh
GROWS FROM
צעד
To step or march.
“footsteps” in this verse is tseʿādāh. The Hebrew צְעָדָה (tseʿādāh, marching or steps) makes the sign a sound of movement, not an abstract impression. The same root describes God’s march in Psalm 68:7, sharpening the image of a divine advance heard before the battle.
ALSO GROWS
tsaʿad: To step or march.
צָעַד
Psalm 68:7 uses this verb for God marching before his people, directly echoing the movement heard in the treetops.
tseʿādīm: Steps or strides.
צְעָדִים
This form keeps the root’s concrete sense of step-by-step movement, bringing the verse’s sound down to footsteps.
תִּשְׁמַע
tishmaʿ from shāmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear, listen, or heed.
“hear” in this verse is tishmaʿ from shāmaʿ. The hearing here leads directly into movement: David hears the sign, then goes out. The root holds hearing and heeding together, so the sound is received as a cue with a response built into the passage.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
This form shows how hearing can include a response, as it does here when the heard signal precedes David’s movement.
shemuʿāh: A report or heard message.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch treats what is heard as a message; in this verse, the sound carries a direction about when to go out.
THE PATTERN
Movement into uncertainty follows a leading that is already ahead.
Look, I send a messenger before you to guard you in the way and to bring you to the place I have established.Alignment walks before him, and sets the way for his steps.When he drives out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they perceive his voice.THE THREAD
O God, when you go forth before your people, when you step through the wilderness, Selah.Psalm 68:7 places the same two movements side by side: God goes forth before the people and marches ahead of them. The roots יָצָא (yatsa, go forth) and צעד (tsaʿad, march) join the advance of God to the marching sound that David hears.
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