What Does 1 Samuel 10:21 Mean in the King James?
When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.
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 verb translated “taken” also means “caught” or “seized,” so selection here carries an edge of capture even as Saul remains hidden.
THE MEANING
A process can identify you while you are still hidden from view. Being selected does not automatically make you visible or reachable to the people searching for you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that being chosen means you are instantly present, accessible, or seen.
THE ROOT
וַתִּלָּכֵד
wattilaked
GROWS FROM
לכד
To catch, capture, or seize.
The family of Matri and Saul are both described with forms of lakad. English “taken” can sound like a neutral selection, while the Hebrew also carries the feel of catching or seizing.
ALSO GROWS
wayyilkedu: They captured Jerusalem.
וַיִּלְכְּדוּ
The same verb describes taking a city, keeping the force of capture audible beneath “taken.”
yilkedunu: A person’s own iniquities seize him.
יִלְכְּדֻנוֹ
Here the root describes being caught and held, revealing the sharper edge that English “taken” can conceal.
THE PATTERN
Casting lots turns an unseen selection into a named person.
And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.THE THREAD
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.The Hebrew verb translated “take” here comes from the same root, lakad, as “taken” in Saul’s selection. Proverbs makes the root’s sense of capture plain, giving Saul’s selection a sharper edge without equating it with wrongdoing.
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