What Does 1 Samuel 18:23 Mean in the King James?
And Saul’s servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king’s son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?
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 same Hebrew root makes the proposal a “light thing” and David “lightly esteemed,” putting the invitation and his sense of worth on one scale.
THE MEANING
Words can reach your ears and meet the way you see yourself: poor, lightly regarded. The same Hebrew root links the perceived smallness of an invitation with the perceived smallness of a person, so David’s question exposes how self-worth weighs an opportunity. His name, David, carries the sense “beloved,” a counter-note within the low regard he names.
THE ROOT
הֲנִקְלָה
hă-niqlāh
GROWS FROM
קלל
To be light or slight; to make light of, treat as contemptible, or curse.
“light thing; lightly esteemed” in this verse is hă-niqlāh. The Hebrew repeats the same root for the marriage seeming slight and David being held in slight esteem. English preserves an echo in “light” and “lightly,” while the Hebrew makes their shared root unmistakable: both the invitation and the person are being weighed.
ALSO GROWS
qāl: Light, slight, or nimble.
קָל
The sense of low weight underlies the question of whether becoming the king’s son-in-law is a small matter.
qalal: To be light, make light of, or curse.
קָלַל
The root’s range shows how a judgment of little weight can shade into contempt.
niqleh: Lightly esteemed or contemptible.
נִקְלֶה
This form describes David’s standing with the very root used to frame the proposed marriage as a slight thing.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; beloved one.
The name David carries the sense “beloved,” while David describes himself as poor and lightly esteemed. That tension lets the name hold a different measure of him alongside the status he perceives.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved; also a close male relative such as an uncle.
דּוֹד
The word’s sense of belovedness gives David’s name a relational warmth within his low-status description.
dōdîm: Love or affection.
דּוֹדִים
This related form keeps the name’s association with belovedness and affection audible.
THE PATTERN
Low social standing does not set a ceiling on a person’s place or inheritance.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?THE THREAD
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.The same QLL root that links the “light thing” to David’s “lightly esteemed” appears again in “shall be lightly esteemed.” The echo shows this word-family recurring wherever esteem and being held lightly are at stake.
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