What Does 1 Samuel 17:31 Mean?
And when the words were heard which David spoke, they set them before the face of Saul, and he took 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 when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.THE KEY
The Hebrew root behind both David’s “words” and what he “spake” also names a matter or thing: his speech becomes the matter that brings him before Saul.
THE MEANING
Words can travel ahead of the person who speaks them and open an encounter. David’s speech reaches Saul first; then Saul brings David into his presence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The assumption that only rank can make someone visible to power loosens here: David’s words reach Saul before David does.
THE ROOT
דָּבָר
davar
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak or declare; the related noun davar means word, matter, or thing.
“words / spake” in this verse is davar. The Hebrew uses the same root for the “words” and the act of speaking. Because davar can also mean a matter or thing, the verse lets speech become more than sound: David’s words set the next event in motion.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
The word David speaks becomes the matter carried before Saul.
dibber: He spoke or declared
דִּבֵּר
This is the verb used for David’s speaking, sharing its root with “words.”
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; the root is associated with love and affection.
David’s name carries the sense of “beloved.” Here, the beloved one’s words are heard and carried to the king before David himself stands before him.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved one; also uncle
דּוֹד
This is the word associated with the sense of David’s name.
dodim: Love or affection
דּוֹדִים
This related form keeps the name’s association with love in view.
וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ
vayyishmeʿu
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear, listen, or heed.
The root shama can hold hearing and attentive heeding together; its noun shemuah can mean a report or tidings. That wider range illuminates the movement here: what is heard becomes a report that reaches Saul.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear or listen
שְׁמַע
It shares the root of “they heard” and carries the sense of attentive listening.
shemuʿah: Report, news, or tidings
שְׁמוּעָה
This related word shows how hearing can become news carried onward.
THE PATTERN
A word that is heard and carried onward can bring its speaker into a new encounter.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they ran him out of the pit. He shaved himself, changed his garments, and came in to Pharaoh.And they said, Cornelius the centurion, an aligned man, and one who lived in awe of God, and well witnessed by all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by a set-apart messenger to send for you into his house, and to hear words from you.At that very hour I sent to you; and you have done well in coming alongside. Now, then, we are all here before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by the Lord.THE THREAD
By the word of the LORD the heavens are made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.The same Hebrew root, דבר (d-b-r), underlies “word” and “matter.” In Samuel, spoken words move an encounter forward; in the Psalm, the LORD’s word is joined to the making of the heavens.
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