What Does 1 Kings 15:11 Mean in the King James?
And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
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 verse joins straightness before the LORD with David, the beloved, as its human pattern.
THE MEANING
Rightness is a life aligned with what the LORD sees, not a verdict manufactured by outward success. The verse places your life under that same seeing now, holding straightness and belovedness together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Rightness is not secured by looking successful or winning human approval; the measure is what stands straight in the LORD’s sight.
THE ROOT
הַיָּשָׁר
hayyāshār
GROWS FROM
ישר
y-š-r
To be straight, level, or upright.
“Right” carries the picture of a straight, level line: alignment, not merely a label of approval. The same seed names uprightness and level places, so Asa’s way is pictured as standing straight in the LORD’s sight.
ALSO GROWS
yāshār: Straight, upright.
יָשָׁר
This is the word’s direct sense: what is right is pictured as a path without crookedness.
yōsher: Uprightness, integrity.
יֹשֶׁר
It shows that straightness can describe the character within a person, not only the direction of a path.
mêshārîm: Level places; uprightness or equity.
מֵישָׁרִים
The branch links integrity with level ground: a way made even rather than distorted.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; love or affection.
David’s name is associated with דּוֹד (dōd), “beloved.” His presence makes the verse’s pattern more than an external standard: it joins a straight way with belovedness.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved; also uncle.
דּוֹד
The “beloved” sense brings the name’s nature into the verse’s comparison.
dōdîm: Loves or caresses.
דּוֹדִים
This related form places belovedness in relationship and affection, not only in a name.
THE PATTERN
Scripture measures rightness by alignment before God and traces that alignment into the way a person walks.
And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.THE THREAD
And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.The word יֹשֶׁר (yōsher, “uprightness”) comes from the same root ישר (y-š-r, “straight”) as “right” in Asa’s verse. David’s likeness is made specific: the straightness named in Asa’s life is also named as uprightness of David’s heart before God.
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