What Does 1 Samuel 15:10 Mean in the King James?

Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

1 Samuel 15:10 · 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.

THE KEY

Hebrew *davar* can mean both “word” and “matter,” so the LORD’s speech arrives not just as information but as an event.

THE MEANING

The LORD’s word comes to Samuel before its content is disclosed. As you read, the sentence holds you at the threshold of what is about to be said.

THE ROOT

דְּבַר

devar

GROWS FROM

דָּבַר

d-b-r

To speak; *davar* can also mean a matter or affair.

In this verse, the word comes as an arrival. Hebrew holds speech and matter together in *davar*, letting the LORD’s utterance register as something happening, not only as information being delivered.

ALSO GROWS

dibber: He spoke.

דִּבֵּר

This verbal form shows the root as speech in action: the word that comes is something uttered.

devarim: Words; matters or things.

דְּבָרִים

The plural preserves the link between what is spoken and the matter it concerns.

וַיְהִי

vayhi

GROWS FROM

הָיָה

h-y-h

To be, become, or happen.

The Hebrew opening uses a form of *hayah*, “to be” or “to happen,” which the KJV renders as “came.” The arrival of the word is presented as an event unfolding in the scene.

ALSO GROWS

hayah: Was; became; happened.

הָיָה

This form reveals the underlying sense of the verse’s opening: something comes to be.

yihyeh: Will be; will become.

יִהְיֶה

This related form carries the same root’s movement into what is yet to come.

THE PATTERN

The word of the LORD arrives as an event of address before its message is unfolded.

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Genesis 15:1 · KJVThe LORD’s word comes to Abram before its message unfolds in the reassurance that follows.

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Jeremiah 1:4 · KJVThe word arrives as address, opening a moment of speech before its content is given.

Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

Luke 3:2 · KJVThe verse presents God’s word as something that comes to a hearer in a specific moment.

THE THREAD

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Genesis 15:1 · KJV

Both verses use *devar YHWH* for the LORD’s word as it comes to someone. Here the sentence leaves that word suspended; Genesis shows its arrival opening into a message of reassurance.

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