What Does 1 Samuel 7:4 Mean?
Then the children of Israel turned aside Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD alone.
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
Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.THE KEY
What looks like mere removal is a redirection: rival masters are put aside, and service gathers around the LORD alone.
THE MEANING
The verse holds release and allegiance together: as competing claims are removed, service is directed to the LORD alone. It speaks now of devotion made visible both in what is laid aside and in where one’s service rests.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that devotion can remain undivided while rival powers keep their claim.
THE ROOT
בְּעָלִים
beʿalim
GROWS FROM
בעל
To own or rule as master; as a noun, owner or master.
“Baalim” in this verse is beʿalim. The name preserves the identity of the Baal deities, while its root also means “owner” or “master.” Beside “served,” it exposes the verse’s structure: rival claims to mastery are put aside so service rests with the LORD alone.
ALSO GROWS
baʿal: Owner, master; also husband.
בַּעַל
The root’s sense of mastery gives the rival deities’ name an additional resonance in a verse about whom Israel serves.
beʿalim: Owners or masters; the plural name Baalim here.
בְּעָלִים
The plural name places competing masters on one side of the verse, against service to the LORD alone.
וַיָּסִירוּ
wayyāsîrû
GROWS FROM
סור
To turn aside, depart, or remove.
“turned aside” in this verse is wayyāsîrû. The verb means to cause something to turn aside or be removed. “Put away” is a movement out of the way; paired with service, it shows release changing the direction of allegiance.
ALSO GROWS
sur: Turn aside or depart.
סוּר
This basic sense makes removal a turning away from a claim, not merely the disposal of an object.
hēsîr: Remove or take away.
הֵסִיר
This causative form shares the root’s movement-aside sense and sharpens the action in the verse.
וַיַּעַבְדוּ
wayyaʿavdû
GROWS FROM
עבד
To work or serve.
“served” in this verse is wayyaʿavdû. עבד carries the sense of service and labor, not only a moment of ritual. The verse’s release of rival masters is followed by service gathered in one direction.
ALSO GROWS
eved: Servant.
עֶבֶד
The servant branch shows that service involves an enduring relation, not only an isolated act.
avodah: Work or service.
עֲבֹדָה
This branch makes clear that the service named here can encompass ongoing work and devotion.
THE PATTERN
Turning from rival claims makes exclusive service visible.
You shall have no other gods before my face.Now therefore turn aside the foreign gods that are among you, and bend your heart toward the LORD, God of Israel.No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will hold fast to one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.THE THREAD
Now therefore turn aside the foreign gods that are among you, and bend your heart toward the LORD, God of Israel.Joshua uses the same Hebrew root סור (sur, “turn aside” or “remove”) for “put away,” making the action a turning out of rival claims. Here, that release is paired with an inclined heart, showing removal and allegiance as parts of one movement.
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