What Does 1 Samuel 23:25 Mean?
Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David that he came down into the rock, and settled in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.
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
Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.THE KEY
The Hebrew verb for Saul’s chase is also used for pursuing peace: the force of pursuit takes its character from what it pursues.
THE MEANING
When threat closes in, being found is not yet the same as being captured. David is in the rock and the wilderness while Saul is still pursuing him; the danger is real, but the outcome remains open.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that being located means being finished: Saul knows where David is, but the verse names pursuit, not capture.
THE ROOT
וַיִּרְדֹּף
vayyirdof
GROWS FROM
רדף
radaph
to run after, pursue, or chase
“pursued” in this verse is vayyirdof. This root names the force of going after someone, but it does not decide whether that pursuit is hostile or good. The object gives the chase its character: Saul pursues David here, while the same root can describe pursuing peace.
ALSO GROWS
radaph: to pursue or chase
רָדַף
This verb names the action Saul takes in the verse.
rodef: one who pursues; a pursuer
רֹדֵף
It makes clear that pursuit describes a relation between the one chasing and the one being chased.
redifah: pursuit
רְדִיפָה
This noun names the ongoing pressure of the chase rather than its outcome.
לְבַקֵּשׁ
levakesh
GROWS FROM
בקש
baqash
to seek or request
The verse uses two roots where English can make the action sound like one: Saul’s men go to seek David, then Saul pursues him. The first marks the search for him; the second carries the movement into a chase.
ALSO GROWS
biqqesh: sought or asked for
בִּקֵּשׁ
This verb names the search that precedes Saul’s pursuit.
baqqashah: a request or petition
בַּקָּשָׁה
The same word-family can describe seeking something as a request, showing that seeking is not itself a chase.
דָּוִד
Dawid
GROWS FROM
דוד
dod
beloved or dear one
David’s name carries the word-family of the beloved. In a verse that calls him the object of a hunt, his name holds another nature alongside the danger.
ALSO GROWS
dod: beloved or dear one; also a kinsman
דּוֹד
This word carries the beloved resonance associated with David’s name.
dodim: loves or endearments
דּוֹדִים
This related form keeps affection audible in the same word-family as the name.
THE PATTERN
Pursuit takes its character from what it runs after.
Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David that he came down into the rock, and settled in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.Turn aside from evil and do good; seek wholeness and pursue it.So then let us pursue the things that move toward wholeness, and the things that build one another up.THE THREAD
Turn aside from evil and do good; seek wholeness and pursue it.The word translated “pursue” is the same Hebrew root used for Saul’s chase. The verb carries the force of going after something; here its object is peace, revealing that the direction of the pursuit changes its character.
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