What Does 1 Samuel 30:27 Mean?
To those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the dry south, and to those who were in Jattir,
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
To them which were in Beth-el, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,THE KEY
This verse maps the release of the spoil to named communities, including Jattir, whose name is associated with what remains.
THE MEANING
The line gives the sending a map: the gift reaches Bethel, southern Ramoth, and Jattir. Bethel means “house of God,” Ramoth means “heights,” and Jattir is associated with what remains or is in surplus. Provision takes shape in actual places and among actual people.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁלַח
vayyishlach
GROWS FROM
שלח
shalach
Send forth, release, let go.
The verb “sent” appears in the preceding verse and governs this list of destinations. Its root holds sending and release together: the spoil leaves one hand and moves outward to named communities.
ALSO GROWS
shaliach: Messenger or envoy; one who is sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
The branch makes the movement relational: sending connects a giver to those who receive.
mishloach: A sending or dispatch.
מִשְׁלוֹחַ
It echoes the verse’s movement from a gathered gift toward its destinations.
יַתִּר
Yattir
GROWS FROM
יתר
yathar
Remain over, be left, or be in surplus.
Jattir is commonly associated with יתר, the root of what remains or exceeds what is needed. In a verse about spoil being sent outward, the name resonates with surplus becoming provision beyond the one who holds it.
ALSO GROWS
yeter: Remainder, surplus, or what is left over.
יֶתֶר
It brings the idea of what remains into the name of one of the receiving places.
hotir: Leave over or have more than enough.
הוֹתִיר
It echoes the movement from surplus toward others that the list of destinations describes.
רָמוֹת
Ramoth
GROWS FROM
רום
rum
Rise, be high, or be elevated.
Ramoth carries the sense of heights within its name. The verse names distinct places rather than an undifferentiated region, giving the outward movement of the gift a real geography.
ALSO GROWS
ram: High or elevated.
רָם
It shares the root sense carried in the place-name Ramoth.
meromim: Heights or high places.
מְרוֹמִים
It makes the landscape embedded in Ramoth’s name visible.
THE PATTERN
Provision becomes shared when what is held is distributed to identifiable recipients.
You shall surely give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, for on account of this word the LORD your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you stretch your hand out to.He scatters and gives to the needy; his alignment stands for the ages; his horn is lifted with his weight.and set them down at the feet of the sent ones, and it was given out to each as anyone had need.THE THREAD
And when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Look, a blessing for you from the plunder of the enemies of the LORD.The root שלח (shalach), “send” or “release,” supplies the action that continues into the next verse. Verse 27 gives that sending its destinations: Bethel, southern Ramoth, and Jattir.
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