What Does 1 Samuel 23:18 Mean?
And they two cut a covenant before the LORD; and David settled in the thicket, and Jonathan went to his house.
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 they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.THE KEY
Hebrew says they “cut” a covenant, and that binding act remains as David stays and Jonathan goes home.
THE MEANING
A bond made before the LORD can hold even when two people are in different places. David stays in the wood; Jonathan returns to his house, and the verse holds their commitment and their separation together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A person’s departure means the bond is over. Here, Jonathan goes home while the covenant still stands.
THE ROOT
כָּרְתוּ
karatu
GROWS FROM
כרת
karat
Cut; cut off.
The verb translated “made” is karat, “cut”; the Hebrew phrase is literally “cut a covenant.” That wording gives the bond the force of a decisive act, which remains in place as the two men part.
ALSO GROWS
karat berit: Cut a covenant.
כרת ברית
This is the phrase used in the verse; its literal image gives depth to the English “made a covenant.”
hikrit: Cut off; remove.
הִכְרִית
This form from the same root carries the edge of severance, making the root’s cutting image clear.
וַיֵּשֶׁב
vayeishev
GROWS FROM
ישב
yashav
Sit; dwell; remain.
“settled” in this verse is vayeishev. The root gathers sitting, dwelling, and remaining into one word. David remains where he is while Jonathan goes elsewhere, so the covenant does not require them to share a place.
ALSO GROWS
yashav: Sit, dwell, or remain.
יָשַׁב
This root underlies “abode” and gives David’s staying its sense of remaining in place.
moshav: Dwelling place or settlement.
מוֹשָׁב
This related form carries the root’s sense of dwelling, echoing the contrast with Jonathan’s return to his house.
הָלַךְ
halakh
GROWS FROM
הלך
halakh
Go; walk.
“went” in this verse is halakh. Here the verb describes Jonathan going home, while the preceding verb describes David remaining. Their distinct movements sit beside the covenant rather than cancel it.
ALSO GROWS
halakh: Go or walk.
הָלַךְ
This is the verb used for Jonathan’s departure to his house.
halikhah: Going or walking.
הֲלִיכָה
This noun from the same root keeps the sense of movement visible in the contrast with David’s staying.
THE PATTERN
A covenant can bind people beyond the place where it is made.
And Mizpah, the lookout, for he said, The LORD keep watch between me and you, when we are hidden one from another.And Jonathan said to David, Go in wholeness, for we two have sworn in the nature of the LORD, saying, Let the LORD be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed for the ages. And he rose and went away, and Jonathan went into the city.For this is the covenant that I will set in place with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will give my instructions into their minds, and scratch them upon their hearts. And I will be to them a God, and they will be to me a people.THE THREAD
On that day the LORD cut a covenant with Abram, saying, To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.The Hebrew uses the same phrase, karat berit, literally “cut a covenant,” though the KJV renders it “made a covenant.” That shared root shows the binding act beneath the wording here, as David and Jonathan part while their covenant stands.
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