What Does 1 Samuel 12:20 Mean in the King James?

And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

1 Samuel 12:20 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Your wrongdoing is fully named, yet it does not have to become your departure from the LORD.

THE MEANING

Your wrongdoing is not softened: you have done all this wickedness. Still, it does not close the way of following the LORD; fear does not have to become withdrawal, and service remains possible with your whole heart.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie this undoes is that once you have done wrong, you are disqualified from following the LORD.

THE ROOT

וַעֲבַדְתֶּם

vaʿavadtem

GROWS FROM

עבד

⁨עבד⁩ (ʿ-b-d): work, labor, serve.

The same root names a servant and the work or service rendered, so “serve” carries an ongoing orientation, not only a single religious act. Here that service remains possible after wrongdoing and involves the whole heart.

ALSO GROWS

ʿeved: servant

עֶבֶד

The same three consonants name a person in service, joining the act of serving to an ongoing relation.

ʿavodah: work, labor, service

עֲבֹדָה

This branch shows that service includes work and labor, widening the word beyond a single task.

תִּירָאוּ

tîrāʾû

GROWS FROM

ירא

⁨ירא⁩ (y-r-ʾ): fear, stand in awe.

This root can name fear or awe; the sense turns on what is feared. Verse 20 says not to fear after wrongdoing, while verse 24 directs that same language toward the LORD, distinguishing alarm from reverence without making them separate faculties.

ALSO GROWS

yareʾ: to fear, to stand in awe

יָרֵא

This verbal form shares the root’s three consonants and names the experience addressed by “Fear not.”

yirʾāh: fear, awe

יִרְאָה

This noun shares the same root and shows how one Hebrew word-family can hold both fear and awe.

THE PATTERN

Wrongdoing or failure can be faced truthfully without becoming the final state of a person’s relation to the LORD.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

Psalm 37:24 · KJVLike Samuel’s words, this verse holds a real fall alongside the LORD’s continued support.

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.

Micah 7:8 · KJVFalling and darkness are named openly, yet they do not become the speaker’s final state.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 · KJVConfession is met with release and cleansing, echoing the movement from acknowledged wrongdoing toward restored relation.

THE THREAD

Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.

1 Samuel 12:24 · KJV

Verse 24 repeats the root ⁨עבד⁩ (ʿ-b-d, serve) and the phrase “with all your heart.” It clarifies that verse 20’s “fear not” can stand alongside awe of the LORD: the fear shifts its object while wholehearted service remains.

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