What Does 1 Samuel 16:21 Mean in the King James?
And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.
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
David’s name carries the nature of the beloved, and Saul’s love brings him near enough to carry what matters.
THE MEANING
You see love expressed as nearness and trust: the one Saul loves stands before him and is given a place at his side. Love here has weight; it makes room for someone to carry what matters to another.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that love is only admiration from a distance; love can bring someone close and entrust them with real responsibility.
THE ROOT
וַיֶּאֱהָבֵהוּ
vayye'ehavehu
GROWS FROM
אהב
To love, desire, or cherish.
“loved” in this verse is vayye'ehavehu. The same root names Saul’s love and its expression in action: David is brought near and trusted with a role. English can leave “love” sounding like an inward feeling, while the verse places it beside a concrete act of trust.
ALSO GROWS
ahav: To love.
אָהַב
This verb root names Saul’s response to David.
ahavah: Love or affection.
אַהֲבָה
The noun form shows that Saul’s verb belongs to a wider word-family for love.
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; related usage also means kinsman or uncle.
The name David carries the nature of the beloved, and the verse immediately says Saul loves him greatly. Name and action meet: the beloved is loved and brought close.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved or kinsman.
דּוֹד
This related word holds the name’s sense of beloved.
dodim: Loves or caresses.
דּוֹדִים
This plural form appears in love poetry, extending the same word-family into expressions of love.
נֹשֵׂא כֵּלִים
nōśē kelîm
GROWS FROM
נשא
To lift, carry, or bear.
“armourbearer” in this verse is nōśē kelîm. The Hebrew phrase names a bearer of equipment; its first word comes from נשא (nasa, to carry). Beneath the title is someone who carries what another needs, giving the verse’s love a tangible weight.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: To lift, carry, or bear.
נָשָׂא
This is the verb-root behind the bearer’s role.
massa: A burden or load.
מַשָּׂא
This related noun makes the carrying dimension of the role visible.
THE PATTERN
Love becomes visible as closeness that stays present and carries weight for another.
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.THE THREAD
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.The same root אָהַב (ahav, “love”) that describes Saul’s love appears in Jonathan’s love for David. Here, love is pictured as two souls knit together, opening the verse’s closeness and trust into a bond that holds another as one’s own.
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