What Does 1 Samuel 15:7 Mean in the King James?
And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
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 Hebrew root behind “smote” also names a plague, so this brief line holds a regional campaign inside the language of a blow.
THE MEANING
Here Saul’s strike is shown at full reach: the violence crosses the land from Havilah to Shur, with Egypt at its edge. The place names make visible the scale carried by a single verb.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that “smote” names only one isolated blow; the verse’s boundary markers reveal violence stretched across a region.
THE ROOT
וַיַּךְ
wayyakh
GROWS FROM
נכה
n-k-h
to strike, smite, inflict a blow
“smote” in this verse is wayyakh. The verb belongs to the same root family as words for a blow and a plague. English gives us one compact action; Hebrew lets that action echo through a wider vocabulary of striking.
ALSO GROWS
makkah: blow, wound, or plague
מַכָּה
It carries the same striking root into the language of a wound or plague, giving “smote” a wider reach than one blow.
mukkēh: struck or beaten
מֻכֵּה
This form names the one who bears the strike, keeping the harm visible alongside the action.
שָׁאוּל
Sha’ul
GROWS FROM
שאל
sh-ʾ-l
to ask, request
Saul’s name carries the sense “asked for.” The requested ruler is now named as the one whose action sweeps across a land, bringing desire and power into the same line.
ALSO GROWS
sha’al: to ask or request
שָׁאַל
The verb gives Saul’s name its sense of being asked for.
she’elah: a request or petition
שְׁאֵלָה
This noun keeps the request-root visible inside the name’s meaning.
מִצְרַיִם
Mitzrayim
GROWS FROM
צרר
ts-r-r
to press in, bind, or constrict
Mitzrayim carries the image of narrowness, the two narrows. Here Egypt marks the edge of the violence’s reach, giving that border a name that also evokes constriction.
ALSO GROWS
tsar: narrow, tight, or constricting
צַר
This short form makes the narrowness within Mitzrayim’s name audible.
metzar: a strait or narrow place
מֵצַר
It gives the image of constriction a place-like form, echoing Egypt as the boundary in this verse.
THE PATTERN
A brief account makes the reach of power visible by naming the boundaries across which it moves.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.THE THREAD
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.Both verses use נכה (nakah, “to strike”). Here the strike is mapped from Havilah to Shur; Exodus names the firstborn, both human and animal, as the blow’s scope.
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