What Does 1 Kings 13:7 Mean?
And the king said to the man of God, Come home with me, and be propped up, and I will give you wages.
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 the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.THE KEY
The king joins nourishment to a gift, making welcome a possible claim on the messenger.
THE MEANING
You meet an offer that brings home, food, and a promised gift together. The Hebrew word behind “refresh thyself” carries the sense of being supported or sustained, so this welcome meets a bodily need. Yet the reward gives the offer a second edge: the king’s care may draw the messenger into the king’s favor.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that a generous welcome is always free of influence; here, nourishment and reward arrive together from the ruler receiving the messenger.
THE ROOT
וּסְעָדָה
u-seʿādāh
GROWS FROM
סעד
to support, sustain, or uphold
“be propped up” in this verse is u-seʿādāh. The Hebrew verb behind “refresh thyself” comes from סעד, “support, sustain.” Its family includes a word for a meal, so the king’s offer is not abstract encouragement: it is food that sustains the body, joined here to a promised gift.
ALSO GROWS
sāʿaḏ: to support or sustain
סָעַד
This verb makes clear that the invitation offers material support, not simply pleasant company.
seʿûdāh: a meal or feast
סְעוּדָה
This noun from the same consonantal root links the offer of refreshment to the sustaining meal.
THE PATTERN
Hospitality becomes a test when the giver’s provision can draw the messenger into the giver’s favor.
You shall not bend judgment. You shall not recognize faces, nor take a bribe, for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the aligned.But he said, As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will take none. And he pressed him to take it, but he refused.Heal the weak, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. As a gift you received, as a gift give.THE THREAD
But he said, As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will take none. And he pressed him to take it, but he refused.Elisha faces an offered gift and refuses it, showing a messenger remaining answerable to the LORD rather than attached to the giver’s favor. His refusal reveals the pressure held inside the king’s combined offer of food and reward.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us