What Does 1 Samuel 3:21 Mean?
And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh, for the LORD uncovered himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
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 the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.THE KEY
The LORD’s appearance is joined to his word: what is uncovered to Samuel is made known through what is spoken.
THE MEANING
The LORD becomes visible again in Shiloh, and the verse names the means: the LORD uncovers himself to Samuel through the LORD’s word. Presence and speech are joined; the word is how what is hidden becomes perceivable. That movement remains alive wherever the word makes presence known now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a word is only information about the LORD’s presence: here, the LORD reveals himself by the word.
THE ROOT
נִגְלָה
niglāh
GROWS FROM
גלה
To uncover, remove what conceals, disclose.
“uncovered himself” in this verse is niglāh. The Hebrew verb comes from גלה (galah, uncover), so the LORD’s revealing is pictured as being uncovered to Samuel. The same verb appears in 1 Samuel 3:7, where the word of the LORD is “not yet revealed”, what was covered there is disclosed here.
ALSO GROWS
galah: To uncover, disclose, or reveal.
גָּלָה
It names the uncovering at the heart of the LORD’s self-revelation.
galui: Uncovered, exposed, or made manifest.
גָּלוּי
It shows the state that follows the act of revealing: what was hidden is now open to perception.
בִּדְבַר
bidvar
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; as a noun, a word, utterance, matter, or thing.
The Hebrew noun דָּבָר (davar, word) can also mean a matter or thing, holding speech and what is spoken about together. Here the LORD is made known בִּדְבַר יְהוָה (bidvar YHWH, by the word of the LORD): the word is the means through which presence is encountered.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: A word, utterance, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
Its range lets “the word” carry the sense of the matter through which the LORD becomes known.
dibber: He spoke.
דִּבֵּר
This verbal branch makes the word an act of speaking, not merely a report about presence.
וַיֵּרָא
vayyērā
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see or perceive; in this form, to appear or be seen.
The verb translated “appeared” comes from ראה (ra’ah, see or perceive) and in this form means “was seen” or “appeared.” Alongside נִגְלָה (niglāh, was uncovered), it makes seeing and unveiling two angles on the same disclosure.
ALSO GROWS
ro’eh: One who sees; a seer.
רֹאֶה
It keeps the root’s link between seeing and perception visible.
mar’eh: A sight, appearance, or vision.
מַרְאֶה
It shows the same root can name what is seen as well as the act of seeing.
THE PATTERN
The LORD makes unseen presence perceivable through a word that reaches a person.
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, and your very great wages.The opening of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the open ones.And the word became flesh and pitched a tent among us, and we beheld his weight, the weight as of the only-born from the Father, full of favor and truth.THE THREAD
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been uncovered to him.The same root גלה (galah, uncover or reveal) names what is missing in 3:7 and what happens in 3:21: the LORD is uncovered to Samuel through the word. The movement is from a word not yet revealed to the LORD revealing himself by that word.
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