What Does 1 Samuel 28:23 Mean?
But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, pressed him, and he heard and responded to their voice. So he rose from the earth and sat upon the bed.
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
But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.THE KEY
A word meaning break through stands between his refusal and his hearing, so the verse keeps outside pressure inside the movement from no to response.
THE MEANING
You can hold refusal and eventual response together: he says he will not eat, yet others press him until he hears them. He then moves from the ground to the bed; the later action does not make the earlier refusal disappear.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that a later response proves there was never a real refusal is undone: the verse preserves his refusal even after others compel him.
THE ROOT
וַיִּפְרְצוּ־בוֹ
wayyipretsu-bo
GROWS FROM
פרץ
parats
To break through, burst out, or make a breach.
“compelled” in this verse is wayyipretsu-bo. The verb carries the force of breaking through, not merely offering a gentle invitation. That force stays in the verse’s movement from his refusal to his eventual response.
ALSO GROWS
perets: A breach; a breaking through.
פֶּרֶץ
When Perez is named, the text says, “How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee” (Genesis 38:29); this branch makes the pressure in “compelled” vivid.
parats: To break through or burst out.
פָּרַץ
At Baal-perazim, David uses this verb for the LORD breaking forth, “as the breach of waters” (2 Samuel 5:20), showing the force this root can carry.
וַיִּשְׁמַע
vayishma
GROWS FROM
שמע
shama
To hear, heed, or respond to what is heard.
“heard and responded” in this verse is vayishma. This verb can hold hearing and responding together. After the refusal and the others’ pressure, hearing their voice becomes the hinge between what is said and what happens next.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The same root opens the summons “Hear, O Israel” (Deuteronomy 6:4), where hearing calls for a response.
shemuah: A report or news; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This related word shows the root also names what reaches someone by hearing, linking the act of listening to what is received.
THE PATTERN
A voice becomes a turning point when hearing carries the hearer into a response.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breath of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.Now therefore, if you will truly hear and respond to my voice, and guard my covenant, then you shall be my own treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.My sheep hear and respond to my voice, and I perceive them, and they follow me.THE THREAD
Hear and respond, my people, and I will bear witness to you, Israel, if you would hear and respond to me.The Hebrew root שָׁמַע (shama), “hear or heed,” appears in both “Hear” and “hearken” here. That pairing makes the response carried by the same root in “hearkened” easier to hear.
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