What Does 1 Samuel 25:21 Mean?
Now David had said, Surely in emptiness have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him. And he has set evil for me in place of good.
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
Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.THE KEY
The word translated “requited” means “returned”: evil is turned back into the place where good was given.
THE MEANING
You can guard another’s good so carefully that nothing goes missing and still receive evil in return. In that moment, the care can feel wasted because what comes back contradicts what you gave. The verse names the exchange without disguising its harm.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It breaks the belief that careful goodness guarantees a good return: here, evil is returned for good.
THE ROOT
וַיָּשֶׁב
wayyashev
GROWS FROM
שוב
To turn or return.
“requited” in this verse is wayyashev. The line casts the response as a return: evil is turned toward the one who gave care, taking the place of good. The same root can describe restoration, so the wound lies in the kind of return made.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: To turn or return.
שׁוּב
It reveals the motion beneath “requited”: something given comes back toward its giver.
heshiv: To bring back or restore.
הֵשִׁיב
It shows that return can restore what was lost; here, the return carries harm instead.
שָׁמַרְתִּי
shamarti
GROWS FROM
שמר
To guard, watch over, or keep.
“kept” in this verse is shamarti. The word for keeping carries the sense of active watchfulness. The verse’s next detail, nothing was missing, shows what that guarding accomplished: none of what belonged to the other was overlooked.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: A watchman or guardian.
שֹׁמֵר
It makes visible the attentive guarding contained in “kept.”
mishmeret: A charge, watch, or duty of guarding.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
It links keeping with sustained care over what has been entrusted.
נִפְקַד
niphqad
GROWS FROM
פקד
To attend to, number, muster, or visit.
“nothing was missing” in this verse is niphqad. The word rendered “missed” comes from a root that can involve attending to or counting. The picture is of everything being accounted for, with nothing overlooked in the care given.
ALSO GROWS
paqad: To attend to, number, or muster.
פָּקַד
It gives the sense of careful oversight behind the claim that nothing was missing.
pequddah: An appointment, charge, or oversight.
פְּקֻדָּה
It connects the care in the verse with responsibility for what is under one’s watch.
THE PATTERN
A return does not have to mirror what was first given: good can be met with evil, and the cycle can be answered without repeating it.
They repay me evil for good, to the bereaving of my living soul.Whoever repays evil for good, evil does not step away from his house.Not giving back evil for evil, or insult for insult, but on the contrary, speaking good, knowing that you are called to this, so that you may inherit good speech.THE THREAD
A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the return of Zion, we were like dreamers.The verb translated “requited” comes from שׁוּב (shuv), meaning “to turn or return”; the same root appears here in “turned again.” In this verse, return brings restoration, showing that the root’s motion can carry release as well as harm.
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