What Does 1 Samuel 22:10 Mean?
And he asked the LORD for him, and gave him provision for the road, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
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 he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.THE KEY
Prayer and provision are one movement here: what is sought for another becomes food and a weapon in his hands.
THE MEANING
Seeking the LORD for another and meeting bodily need belong to one act of care: food and a sword are placed in his hands. The care is practical and edged; it answers hunger while equipping someone facing danger.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that seeking the LORD for someone is separate from supplying what keeps that person alive.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁאַל
vayish'al
GROWS FROM
שאל
To ask, inquire, or request.
“asked” in this verse is vayish'al. Sha’al holds asking and inquiry in one verb, so this is more than detached information gathering: another person’s need is brought before the LORD. The verse follows the inquiry with two acts of giving, joining petition to tangible supply.
ALSO GROWS
she'elah: Request; question.
שְׁאֵלָה
This branch keeps the inquiry connected to a request, rather than mere observation.
mish'al: Desire; petition.
מִשְׁאָל
This branch shows that asking can carry a need or longing, fitting an inquiry made on someone else’s behalf.
צֵידָה
tzedah
GROWS FROM
צוד
To hunt or pursue game.
“provision for the road” in this verse is tzedah. The word for provisions belongs to the word family of hunting and game, giving the supply a concrete, gathered quality. What English presents simply as food carries the sense of provisions secured for the journey ahead.
ALSO GROWS
tsayid: Game; hunting.
צַיִד
This noun links provisions with hunted food and makes the material sense of the supply visible.
tsayad: Hunter.
צַיָּד
The hunter belongs to the same word family, showing the practical world of securing food behind the word for provisions.
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, put, or set in place.
“gave” in this verse is natan. Natan is repeated: provisions are given, and then Goliath’s sword is given. The root can also mean putting or setting something in place, so the care here takes visible form in what another person can receive and carry.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift; present.
מַתָּנָה
The noun makes giving concrete: something is placed in another’s hands.
netinah: Giving; placing.
נְתִינָה
This branch preserves the action of giving or setting something in place, echoed by the food and sword supplied here.
THE PATTERN
Provision becomes tangible when what is needed is placed into another’s hands.
And he bent you low, and made you hunger, and fed you with manna, which you had never perceived, nor had your fathers, so that he might make you perceive that humankind does not live by bread alone, but by every word that goes out from the mouth of the LORD does humankind live.You give to them, and they gather; you open your hand, and they are filled with good.And he commanded the crowds to recline upon the grass, and he took the five loaves and the two fish, lifted his eyes to the heavens, blessed them, broke the loaves, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.THE THREAD
Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and stripped it from its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their mighty one was dead, they fled.The same Hebrew word חֶרֶב (cherev, “sword”) appears in both verses: David takes Goliath’s sword when Goliath falls, and here that weapon is given to David as provision. Its violent history remains part of the gift; the care in this verse is concrete and dangerous.
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