What Does 1 Samuel 11:3 Mean in the King James?
And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.
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 “respite” they ask for is a release wide enough to send a plea across Israel before they decide whether anyone can bring them out.
THE MEANING
When you are hemmed in, even a short release can give a plea room to travel. The outcome remains uncertain: if no deliverer appears, the people will come out to Nahash. The verse holds both the search for help and the threat of surrender in view.
THE ROOT
מוֹשִׁיעַ
moshia
GROWS FROM
ישע
To deliver, bringing someone out of constriction into room.
“save” in this verse is moshia. The question is whether anyone can bring them out, not simply whether they can endure. The root makes deliverance a movement out of the narrow place, while the verse leaves open whether such a person will appear.
ALSO GROWS
yasha: To deliver or rescue.
יָשַׁע
This is the verb behind the deliverer’s title and keeps the action concrete: someone is brought out.
yeshuah: Deliverance.
יְשׁוּעָה
The elders are waiting to learn whether deliverance is available to them.
moshia: A deliverer; one who brings rescue.
מוֹשִׁיעַ
This is the word used in the verse for the person they hope may be found.
הַרְפּוּ
harpu
GROWS FROM
רפה
To slacken, let drop, or release.
“respite” in this verse is harpu. The requested pause is expressed as a release: the elders ask to be let go for seven days. This is the same root behind the phrase often rendered “be still” in Psalm 46:10, where the sense is to release your grip.
ALSO GROWS
raphah: To slacken, loosen, or release.
רָפָה
This basic verb gives the requested respite its sense of pressure being let up.
harpu: Release; let go (plural command).
הַרְפּוּ
This is the form used in the verse, so the pause itself carries the language of release.
וְנִשְׁלְחָה
venishleḥah
GROWS FROM
שלח
To send forth, release, or let go.
The release they request becomes time to send messengers outward. The verse links loosening the immediate pressure with opening a path for news and help to travel.
ALSO GROWS
shalach: To send or send forth.
שָׁלַח
This root names the action the elders plan: sending a message beyond their immediate reach.
shaliach: An envoy or messenger; one who is sent.
שְׁלִיחַ
The envoy embodies the outward movement of the request for help.
THE PATTERN
When deliverance is uncertain, a cry or messenger moves outward and opens the possibility of help.
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.THE THREAD
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.The Hebrew verb for “send” here shares its root with the elders’ plan to send messengers. In Exodus, sending opens into a deliverer being sent to bring people out of constriction.
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