What Does 1 Samuel 14:47 Mean in the King James?
So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them.
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
Saul’s power is revealed by the turn: every direction he faces becomes another place where his rule brings distress.
THE MEANING
You meet power here in its direction: Saul’s rule reaches outward into conflict on every side. Wherever he turns, the encounter leaves distress among those he faces. The verse keeps that cost visible alongside his taking the kingdom.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that holding power means conflict is finished: Saul’s rule still advances through battles and leaves distress wherever it turns.
THE ROOT
יִפְנֶה
yifneh
GROWS FROM
פנה
To turn, face, or direct oneself toward or away from something.
“turned himself” in this verse is yifneh. The Hebrew verb יִפְנֶה (yifneh, he turns or faces) makes the final clause more than a change of route: every turn begins another encounter. The root’s family includes turning and directing, so the repeated reach of Saul’s power is bound to where he faces.
ALSO GROWS
hiphnah: To turn or direct something toward a place or person.
הִפְנָה
This causative form shows the root can describe directing where something faces, not only changing one’s own course.
peniyyah: A turning, direction, or appeal.
פְּנִיָּה
An appeal is a turn toward someone; this branch keeps relationship inside what can sound like mere movement.
לָכַד
lakad
GROWS FROM
לכד
To catch, capture, or seize.
The verb translated “took” means to capture or seize. Its family includes both the snare that catches and the captive who is caught, casting Saul’s acquisition of the kingdom in the language of capture.
ALSO GROWS
malkodet: A snare or trap.
מַלְכֹּדֶת
The snare makes the root’s force concrete: taking can mean catching something in a grip.
nilkad: Caught or captured.
נִלְכַּד
This passive form names what happens to the one seized, echoing the force carried by the verse’s account of rule.
יַרְשִׁיעַ
yarshia
GROWS FROM
רשע
To act wickedly; in the Hiphil, to condemn or declare guilty.
The closing verb belongs to a word family of wrongdoing and condemnation, giving “vexed” a sharper edge of affliction and judgment. That force follows Saul wherever he turns.
ALSO GROWS
rasha: A wicked or guilty person.
רָשָׁע
This noun shows the root’s connection to wrongdoing and guilt.
hirshia: To condemn or declare guilty.
הִרְשִׁיעַ
This related verb brings a judgmental shade to the force of the verse’s closing action.
THE PATTERN
The direction a person turns shapes the encounter that follows.
Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,THE THREAD
Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.“Look thou upon me” translates פְּנֵה (p’neh, turn toward me), from the same Hebrew root פנה (panah, to turn or face) that shapes Saul’s turn toward each enemy. In Samuel the turning meets others with distress; in the psalm it becomes a plea for mercy.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us