What Does 1 Samuel 22:15 Mean?
Have I today begun to ask God for him? Far be it from me! Let the king not lay any word upon his servant, nor upon all the house of my father, for your servant knew nothing of all this, small or great.
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
Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.THE KEY
The “thing” the king might set against the servant is the same “thing” the servant says he never knew.
THE MEANING
A matter can be placed against you without that charge itself proving what you knew. The verse holds the plea and the denial together: no matter against the servant or his father’s house, and no knowledge of the matter, great or small.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being accused does not by itself prove that you knew of or shared in the alleged act.
THE ROOT
דָּבָר
davar
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; as a noun, a word, matter, or thing.
“any word” in this verse is davar. The Hebrew repeats davar: the king is asked not to set a matter against the servant, and the servant says he knew no matter, small or great. The same word binds the charge and the claim of not knowing it.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: He spoke
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form shows the speaking contained in the root behind davar, “word” or “matter.”
devarim: Words, matters, or things
דְּבָרִים
This plural form carries the same range of meaning, where words and matters share a root.
יָדַע
yadaʿ
GROWS FROM
ידע
To know, perceive, or recognize through encounter.
“knew” in this verse is yadaʿ. The claim uses yada: the servant says he has no knowledge of the matter, small or great. The root presents knowing as perception or recognition, making the denial a claim about awareness of the matter itself.
ALSO GROWS
daʿat: Knowledge or perception
דַּעַת
This noun shares the root and shows knowing as something held or perceived.
yodeaʿ: One who knows or perceives
יֹדֵעַ
This form brings the root into the person who knows, the very point at issue in the servant’s denial.
לִשְׁאֹל
lishʾol
GROWS FROM
שאל
To ask or request.
The verb translated “enquire” is shaʾal, “ask” or “request.” Saul’s name, Shaʾul, means “asked for,” so the denied inquiry for the king echoes the asking-root carried in his name.
ALSO GROWS
sheʾelah: A question or request
שְׁאֵלָה
This noun shows the root’s movement from asking to the request itself.
Shaʾul: Asked for or requested; Saul
שָׁאוּל
The king addressed in the verse bears a name formed from the same asking-root.
THE PATTERN
A charge, a person’s knowledge, and the proof of a claim remain distinct until testimony is examined.
The aligned one at the head of his own contention seems straight, but his neighbor comes and searches him out.He answered, Whether he misses the mark or not, I do not know. One thing I know, that I was blind, and now I see.Nor can they set before you the things of which they now accuse me.THE THREAD
And Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king.The Hebrew word translated “asked” here shares the root שאל with “enquire” in the current verse. Saul’s name, Shaʾul, means “asked for,” so the denied inquiry echoes the asking-root carried in the king’s name.
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