What Does 1 Kings 15:18 Mean in the King James?
Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
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
Before Asa’s words reach Ben-hadad, the treasure already speaks: what is held in the LORD’s house becomes part of an appeal to another king.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks through the direction of a transfer: Asa takes the silver and gold held in the LORD’s house and the king’s house, places it in his servants’ hands, and sends it to Ben-hadad. The movement makes the appeal tangible before its words arrive; what was stored under one authority now enters another ruler’s hand. A decision is already visible in what is released.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁלַח
vayyishlach
GROWS FROM
שלח
To send forth, dispatch, or release.
“sent” in this verse is vayyishlach. Shalach holds sending forth and release together, so the verse’s action carries more than a courier route: Asa lets the treasure leave the two houses and directs it toward Damascus. The direction of that release gives the appeal its shape.
ALSO GROWS
shilluaḥ: Sending away; dismissal.
שִׁלּוּחַ
This branch makes the treasure’s departure visible: Asa sends it out from the houses that held it.
shaliach: A sent one; an emissary.
שָׁלִיחַ
The servants carry what Asa sends onward, making the handoff part of the dispatch.
וַיִּתְּנֵם
vayyittenem
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place.
“delivered” in this verse is vayyittenem. The Hebrew says Asa gives the treasure into the hand of his servants, then sends it to Ben-hadad. Natan makes the placement explicit; shalach carries what was placed there outward, turning a handoff into a directed transfer.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: A gift.
מַתָּנָה
The same root’s gift-word illuminates how placed wealth can take on the character of a transfer to a recipient.
netinah: Giving; an act of giving.
נְתִינָה
This branch keeps the act of giving in view: the treasure is deliberately placed into human hands before it reaches the king.
THE PATTERN
When power is negotiated, material value moves between hands and makes the bargain visible.
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.THE THREAD
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.Exodus 5:1 uses the same root, שָׁלַח (shalach, send or release), in the words “Let my people go”; here the treasure is sent toward Ben-hadad. The shared root holds sending and release together, while what moves and where it goes reveal two different directions.
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