What Does 1 Samuel 27:2 Mean?
And David rose, and crossed over with the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
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 arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.THE KEY
The verb “passed over” shares a root with עִבְרִי (ʿivri), “Hebrew,” traditionally linked to one who comes from across; David’s crossing carries six hundred others with him.
THE MEANING
When remaining where you are feels impossible, crossing becomes a real movement into unfamiliar ground. A decision can carry more than the person who makes it: David rises, and six hundred men cross with him. The passage holds the shared consequence of departure.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעֲבֹר
wayyaʿavor
GROWS FROM
עבר
ʿ-b-r
Cross, pass beyond.
“crossed over” in this verse is wayyaʿavor. The verb is built from ע־ב־ר, the root for crossing or passing beyond. The same root appears in עִבְרִי (ʿivri), “Hebrew,” traditionally linked to one who comes from across, and מַעֲבָר (maʿavar), “crossing”; here the boundary is traversed by a whole company, not David alone.
ALSO GROWS
ʿivri: Hebrew; traditionally understood as one who comes from across.
עִבְרִי
The word shares the crossing root, echoing the movement David makes.
maʿavar: Crossing, passage, or transit.
מַעֲבָר
This noun makes the crossing itself explicit: David and the six hundred pass together from one side to another.
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d
Beloved; the related noun can also mean uncle.
David’s name shares the seed דוד with the Hebrew word for “beloved,” which can also mean “uncle.” The verse places that name at the head of a movement that includes six hundred others.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved one; also uncle.
דּוֹד
This is the relational word from which the name David is traditionally understood to arise.
dodim: Loves, expressions of affection.
דּוֹדִים
The same root carries affection and closeness, adding relational depth to David’s name.
THE PATTERN
A decisive change of place can carry a whole company, not only the person who initiates it.
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the goods they had gathered, and the living souls they had made in Haran. And they went out to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came.And the priests who lifted the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood steady on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had finished crossing over Jordan.And when he had perceived the vision, at once we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to bring them good news.THE THREAD
And the priests who lifted the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood steady on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had finished crossing over Jordan.Joshua 3:17 uses עבר (ʿ-b-r), “cross over,” as all Israel passes through the Jordan. The same root opens David’s move as a collective crossing too: six hundred men share the passage with him.
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