What Does 1 Samuel 13:10 Mean?
And it came to pass, as soon as he had finished sending up the ascending offering, behold, Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him, to bless 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
And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.THE KEY
What the KJV calls a salute is a blessing: just as the offering reaches its end, Saul goes out to speak good over Samuel.
THE MEANING
A moment of completion can also be a threshold: as one act reaches its end, an encounter opens. Here the meeting is spoken as blessing; the Hebrew phrase means Saul goes out to bless Samuel.
THE ROOT
לְבָרֲכוֹ
ləvārăḵō
GROWS FROM
ברך
Bless; the root also holds the bodily word for knee.
The Hebrew verb behind “salute” means “to bless him.” Its root holds blessing close to the knee, so the meeting carries both the spoken gift of blessing and the posture of honor.
ALSO GROWS
bārakh: To bless; also to kneel
בָּרַךְ
This verb underlies Saul’s intended greeting, framing the encounter as blessing rather than a bare salutation.
berekh: Knee
בֶּרֶךְ
The shared consonants keep the bodily image of the knee close to blessing.
berākhāh: Blessing
בְּרָכָה
This noun makes explicit the good Saul intends to speak over Samuel.
עֹלָה
ʿōlāh
GROWS FROM
עלה
Go up, rise.
“ascending offering” in this verse is ʿōlāh. The Hebrew name for a burnt offering, עֹלָה, means “that which goes up.” The offering’s upward movement sits beside Saul’s going out to meet Samuel, bringing ascent and encounter together in the scene.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālāh: To go up, ascend
עָלָה
This verb is the root action within the offering’s name: the offering goes up.
maʿălāh: An ascent or step
מַעֲלָה
This related noun keeps the sense of rising as a movement, illuminating the offering’s upward direction.
THE PATTERN
An encounter can take the form of blessing, speaking good over another.
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and stood him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from the offering for falling short, and the rising offering, and the offerings of wholeness.And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting his hands, he blessed them.THE THREAD
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and stood him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.The same root ברך stands behind Saul’s KJV “salute” and Jacob’s “blessed.” Genesis makes explicit the relational sense compressed in Samuel’s scene: a meeting can itself take the form of blessing.
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