What Does 1 Samuel 16:9 Mean?
Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this one.
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
Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.THE KEY
The sons can pass before Samuel one by one, but being seen in the sequence is not the same as being chosen.
THE MEANING
Being brought into view does not settle what you are selected for; passing before the eyes and being chosen are separate acts. The verse states the decision plainly: the LORD has not chosen this one. That names a choice in this moment, not a verdict on the whole person.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Not being chosen for a particular place proves I have no worth.
THE ROOT
בָּחַר
bachar
GROWS FROM
בחר
Choose, select, or prefer.
“chosen” in this verse is bachar. The Hebrew names a specific act of selection, and here that act is explicitly negated: the LORD has not selected Shammah. The word concerns this choice; it does not itself pronounce a judgment on Shammah’s worth.
ALSO GROWS
nivḥar: Chosen or selected.
נִבְחָר
This passive form makes the same root’s focus clear: someone is selected.
mibḥar: Choice, choice portion, or the choicest part.
מִבְחָר
The branch carries selection into what is preferred or set apart from the rest.
וַיַּעֲבֵר
wayyaʿăvēr
GROWS FROM
עבר
Pass over, cross, or go beyond.
“made … to pass by” in this verse is wayyaʿăvēr. The verb presents Jesse as causing Shammah to pass before Samuel. The procession brings each son into view, but the act of passing through the line does not itself make him the one chosen.
ALSO GROWS
maʿăvār: A crossing or passage.
מַעֲבָר
It keeps the movement in the verse visible: Shammah is brought across Samuel’s view.
ʿēver: The other side or beyond.
עֵבֶר
The root can carry a person from one side to another, while this verse separates the sons’ passage from the LORD’s selection.
שַׁמָּה
Shammah
GROWS FROM
שמם
Be desolate or appalled; the name is commonly linked with “desolation” or “astonishment.”
Shammah’s name carries an echo of desolation or astonishment. The verse’s spoken decision remains specific: the LORD has not chosen him here; his name does not turn that decision into a complete definition of the person.
ALSO GROWS
shemāmāh: Desolation or waste.
שְׁמָמָה
This noun carries the root’s sense of a place laid waste.
shāmēm: To be desolate or appalled.
שָׁמֵם
The verbal form gives the name’s possible echo its sense of being struck by desolation or astonishment.
THE PATTERN
The visible procession does not determine the choice; being seen and being selected are distinct.
But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds.But God picked out the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; and God picked out the weak things of the world to shame the strong.THE THREAD
For you are a set-apart people unto the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people of his own treasure, above all the peoples who are upon the face of the ground.“Hath chosen” uses the same Hebrew root, בחר (bachar), as “chosen” here. Deuteronomy speaks that selection affirmatively; this verse names its absence for Shammah, showing the root marks a particular choice rather than a measure of a person’s worth.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us