What Does 1 Samuel 9:24 Mean?
And the cook lifted up the leg, and what was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold the remnant! Set it before your face, and eat. For it has been set aside for you until this appointed time, since I said, I have called the people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
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 cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee, and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.THE KEY
The portion called “what remains” is no accident: Samuel says it has been guarded for Saul until this moment.
THE MEANING
You see a portion named as what remains, yet Samuel says it has been kept for Saul until this appointed time. Samuel places it before him, and Saul eats with him that day; the reserved portion becomes a shared welcome at the table.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
What remains must be unwanted or accidental. Here, the remaining portion has been deliberately kept for Saul.
THE ROOT
שָׁמוּר
shamur
GROWS FROM
שמר
To guard, keep watch over, or preserve.
“set aside” in this verse is shamur. The word translated “kept” carries the sense of guarding or preserving. Samuel presents the portion as something held in care for Saul until this moment, not as food that happened to be left over.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: Keeper or guard.
שֹׁמֵר
This branch makes the root’s active sense visible: keeping involves watching over what has been entrusted.
mishmeret: Charge, guard, or watch.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
The same root can describe something placed under watch; here, the portion is preserved for Saul.
הַנִּשְׁאָר
hannish'ar
GROWS FROM
שאר
To remain or be left over.
The Hebrew names two different things: שאר describes what remains, while שמר says that remainder is guarded. What is left is also what has been deliberately preserved for Saul.
ALSO GROWS
she'erit: Remnant.
שְׁאֵרִית
This related form names what remains, echoing the portion Samuel identifies before Saul.
she'ar: Remainder or what remains.
שְׁאָר
The word shares the root’s sense of remaining, keeping the focus on the portion that is still there.
THE PATTERN
A welcome can take the form of provision prepared for a particular recipient and placed before them.
And he lifted portions to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five hands greater than any of theirs. And they drank, and grew drunk with him.You lay out a table before my face, in full view of those who press me. You make my head rich with oil; my cup is soaked full.In my Father's house are many places to remain. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to make ready a place for you.THE THREAD
The LORD watches over your going out and your coming in, from now and to the ages.The verb behind “kept” in Samuel’s scene is שָׁמַר (shamar, to guard or preserve), the same root translated “preserve” here. The shared root links a portion guarded for Saul with the keeping of one’s going out and coming in.
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