What Does 1 Samuel 23:9 Mean?
And David knew that Saul was silently plowing evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod near.
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 David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.THE KEY
David meets a hidden plot by bringing the means of inquiry near before he moves against it.
THE MEANING
Hidden harm can reach you before it is visible, through what you hear. Awareness can become a turn toward discernment instead of reflexive retaliation. Bringing the ephod near opens the space for inquiry.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that noticing a threat requires an immediate counterstrike: David’s awareness first leads him to seek direction.
THE ROOT
הַגִּישָׁה
haggishah
GROWS FROM
נגשׁ
n-g-sh
Approach; draw near.
“Bring near” in this verse is haggishah. The Hebrew command carries the sense of bringing something near. David’s response to the concealed danger is to draw the ephod, the means of inquiry, within reach.
ALSO GROWS
nagash: Approach; draw near.
נָגַשׁ
The root names the movement toward what is near, echoing David’s turn toward inquiry.
higgish: Bring near; present.
הִגִּישׁ
This causative form underlies the command: the ephod is brought close for what follows.
וַיִּשְׁמַע
wayyishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear; listen; attend.
The Hebrew verb is wayyishmaʿ, “he heard”: the KJV’s “knew” presents the awareness hearing brings, while the Hebrew keeps the report itself in view. The root links receiving what is heard with attending to it.
ALSO GROWS
shemuah: Report; news.
שְׁמוּעָה
The danger reaches David as a report, making hearing the path by which hidden intent becomes known.
shomea: One who hears; a listener.
שֹׁמֵעַ
The listener receives the report that prompts David’s next movement toward inquiry.
THE PATTERN
When the way forward is uncertain, the pattern is to seek direction before acting.
I make you wise, and I teach you in the way you walk. I guide you with my eye upon you.In all your ways, perceive him, and he straightens your paths.But if any of you is left behind in wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without doubling and without taunting, and it will be given him.THE THREAD
And David asked of the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail snatch back all.In this later scene, David again brings the ephod near, then asks whether to pursue and receives direction. It makes the movement in 23:9 visible: hearing hidden danger opens into inquiry before action.
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