What Does 1 Kings 3:6 Mean in the King James?
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 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 faithful love shown to David is the same love God keeps moving forward through the son who now sits on the throne.
THE MEANING
You live among gifts whose story can begin before you; some kindness reaches you as love kept moving through another life. Here, David’s truthful, aligned walk and Solomon’s place on the throne are held together by that continuing love.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that every gift in your hands proves your own achievement: Solomon names his throne as kindness kept for his father.
THE ROOT
חֶסֶד
ḥesed
GROWS FROM
ח־ס־ד
ḥ-s-d
To act with faithful kindness; loyal love.
“kindness” in this verse is ḥesed. The verse repeats chesed: faithful love is both shown to David and preserved for him in the son who sits on the throne. David’s name (דָּוִד, David) echoes דּוֹד (dod, beloved), giving the father in this passage a name that carries belovedness.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāsîḏ: A faithful or devoted person.
חָסִיד
This branch shows faithful love taking shape in a person, like the quality of life attributed to David.
ḥasîḏîm: Faithful or devoted people.
חֲסִידִים
The plural form lets the root’s language of devotion extend beyond one person, fitting the passage’s movement from father to son.
אֱמֶת
ʾemet
GROWS FROM
א־מ־ן
ʾ-m-n
To be firm, steady, or reliable.
The word rendered “truth” shares its root with firmness and trust. David’s walk in truth therefore carries the sense of lived steadiness, something dependable to stand on.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāmēn: Truly; firm or confirmed.
אָמֵן
The familiar response “Amen” carries the same sense of firmness that underlies David’s walk in truth.
ʾĕmûnāh: Steadfastness, trust, or reliability.
אֱמוּנָה
This branch connects truth with dependable trust, showing that the verse describes a way of life, not just correct words.
צְדָקָה
tsedaqah
GROWS FROM
צ־ד־ק
ts-d-q
To be right, just, or aligned.
Righteousness adds alignment to the truthful walk: David’s life is described as rightly ordered in relation to God. The verse presents this alignment alongside an upright heart, joining outward conduct with inward orientation.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Justice, rightness, or alignment.
צֶדֶק
This branch makes the verse’s “righteousness” concrete as a life aligned with what is right.
tsaddiq: A just or aligned person.
צַדִּיק
This branch describes someone embodying the alignment that the verse attributes to David’s walk.
THE PATTERN
Faithful love takes shape in a life and continues through what is passed forward.
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.THE THREAD
My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.The Hebrew is חֶסֶד (ḥesed, faithful love), the same word rendered “mercy” here, and this verse also joins it to keeping. Solomon’s throne appears as one moment in that continuing line of love.
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