What Does 1 Chronicles 18:10 Mean in the King James?
He sent Hadoram his son to king David, to enquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadarezer, and smitten him; (for Hadarezer had war with Tou;) and with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass.
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
The envoy carries a question of wholeness and a blessing through the space opened by war.
THE MEANING
When conflict shapes a relationship, contact can still take the form of asking after another’s wholeness, speaking blessing, and bringing something valuable. The verse holds the reader in that sequence: sending, asking, blessing, giving.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
After conflict, there is no genuine path to the other except more conflict.
THE ROOT
לְשָׁלוֹם
leshalom
GROWS FROM
שלם
To be complete, whole, or sound.
The word translated “welfare” is shalom: the envoy is sent to ask after David’s wholeness. The same root appears in words for being whole and for well-being offerings, opening the greeting beyond a polite check-in to a wish for soundness.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete, sound.
שָׁלֵם
This branch makes explicit the wholeness held inside the envoy’s question about David’s welfare.
shelamim: Well-being or peace offerings.
שְׁלָמִים
This branch shows the root appearing in the language of offerings associated with well-being.
וַיִּשְׁלַח
wayyishlach
GROWS FROM
שלח
To send out, release, or stretch forth.
“sent” in this verse is wayyishlach. The mission begins with a sending: movement carries a message across the space between rulers. This root holds sending and release together, so the envoy’s arrival becomes an act that opens contact after conflict.
ALSO GROWS
shaluach: One who is sent; an envoy.
שָׁלוּחַ
The envoy is literally the person sent to carry the greeting and blessing.
Shiloach: Sent; the name of a waterway.
שִׁלֹחַ
The name preserves the root’s sense of something sent forth, echoing the envoy sent out with a message.
לְבָרֲכוֹ
levarekho
GROWS FROM
ברך
To kneel or bless.
“congratulate” in this verse is levarekho. The Hebrew verb means “to bless him,” giving the congratulations the shape of a spoken blessing. The word’s connection to the knee carries a posture of honor within the act of blessing.
ALSO GROWS
berekh: Knee.
בֶּרֶךְ
The shared root preserves the bent-knee image within the blessing.
berakhah: Blessing.
בְּרָכָה
This is the blessing the envoy is sent to speak over David.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness crosses division through intentional greetings, concrete approaches, and reconciliation.
And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.THE THREAD
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.The “welfare” asked after here is שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness), the same root-word named in “Prince of Peace.” The greeting’s wish for David’s wholeness opens onto peace as the defining nature of a ruler.
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