What Does 1 Chronicles 13:3 Mean in the King James?
And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A sacred thing can be within reach while the seeking that makes it a meeting place is absent.
THE MEANING
The verse exposes a present distance: what is sacred can remain near while you do not seek God there. Bringing the ark near and naming that absence belong together; the return begins with an honest account of what has gone un sought.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief is that keeping a sacred object near is the same as seeking God.
THE ROOT
דָּרַשׁ
dārash
GROWS FROM
דרש
To seek, inquire, consult, or resort to.
“enquired” in this verse is dārash. The verb carries more than asking a question: it can mean actively seeking or turning toward someone. The verse distinguishes bringing the ark near from seeking there, so proximity alone does not amount to inquiry.
ALSO GROWS
midrāsh: Inquiry, study, or exposition.
מִדְרָשׁ
This branch carries seeking into sustained investigation, showing that inquiry is an active engagement rather than mere possession of a sacred sign.
derishah: Inquiry, request, or demand.
דְּרִישָׁה
This branch preserves the active reach of the root; the verse names the absence of that reaching.
THE PATTERN
What is sacred is not encountered by possession alone; encounter is joined to seeking.
Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.THE THREAD
And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.The Hebrew root דָּרַשׁ (dārash, “seek” or “inquire”) appears in both verses. This line makes explicit what the current verse confesses by absence: seeking is the relation through which the LORD is found, not something the ark’s nearness can replace.
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