What Does 1 Samuel 21:11 Mean?
And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing back to one another about him in whirling dances, saying, Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
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 servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?THE KEY
The chorus crowns David before any throne does, and the praise that honors him also exposes him.
THE MEANING
A public name can arrive before a person speaks: the refrain makes David legible as king to everyone who hears it. Praise does not stay harmless; repeated together, the words carry a claim about authority and change how the person named is received. The chorus gives honor and vulnerability at the same time.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that praise always protects its subject: a shared refrain can make the praised person more visible and vulnerable.
THE ROOT
יַעֲנוּ
yaʿănû
GROWS FROM
ענה
ʿ-n-h
Answer, respond.
“sing back to one another” in this verse is yaʿănû. The Hebrew verb rendered “sing one to another” comes from the root for answering and responding. The song is a chorus of voices answering each other: repetition gives the praise its public force, so the refrain can crown David and expose him at once.
ALSO GROWS
ʿānâ: To answer or respond.
עָנָה
The verse’s singing carries the sense of voices answering one another, not just making music.
maʿăneh: An answer or response.
מַעֲנֶה
This branch makes the song’s structure visible: each voice joins a response that turns praise into a shared public statement.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דוד
D-W-D
Beloved; the loved one.
David’s name carries the nature of the beloved. Here that name is coupled with a chorus that magnifies his victories, showing how affection and acclaim can become a public identity with real consequences.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved; loved one.
דּוֹד
This root meaning is compressed into David’s name, which the refrain makes famous.
dōdî: My beloved.
דּוֹדִי
The familiar Song of Songs form shows the same root naming someone as beloved, bringing out the relational nature carried by David’s name.
מֶלֶךְ
melekh
GROWS FROM
מלך
M-L-K
Rule, reign; exercise authority.
The root reaches beyond the title of a person to the act of ruling and the realm under that rule. By calling David “king of the land,” the refrain makes his victories sound like a claim to authority, which is why praise can also sound dangerous to those who hear it.
ALSO GROWS
mālak: To reign or rule.
מָלַךְ
This verb reveals the action contained in the title “king”: the song gives David’s victories the sound of rule.
mamlākhāh: Kingdom; realm.
מַמְלָכָה
The realm branch shows how the title reaches beyond David himself to the land named in the servants’ question.
THE PATTERN
Words repeated in public can shape a person’s reputation and bring real consequences.
And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.Death and life are in the hand of the tongue, and those who love it eat its fruit.Even so the tongue is a small limb, and it lifts its neck over great things. Look how great a forest a little fire kindles!THE THREAD
And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.The Hebrew verb translated “answered” comes from the same root ענה (ʿ-n-h, answer or respond) as the singing in this verse. The refrain is a call and response: as voices repeat it together, praise becomes a public claim about who holds authority.
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