What Does 1 Samuel 19:15 Mean in the King James?
And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.
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 root can carry release or pursuit; Saul’s purpose bends this sending toward death.
THE MEANING
Saul sends messengers to bring David to him in bed, with death already named as the purpose. The violence is present in the command before anyone strikes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that lethal violence begins only with the final blow: the command already contains the intended death.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁלַח
wayyishlach
GROWS FROM
שלח
shalach
send, send forth, release, let go
“sent” in this verse is wayyishlach. This root holds sending forth and release in one verbal field. Here Saul’s purpose turns the sending toward capture and death; release is the branch left unused.
ALSO GROWS
shallach: send away, release, let go
שַׁלַּח
In Exodus 5:1, this root appears in the command “Let my people go,” showing a sending that opens a way out of confinement.
Shiloach: sent forth; Siloam
שִׁלֹחַ
The name of the pool in John 9:7 is translated “Sent”; there, the sent water is connected with restored sight.
לְהָמִיתוֹ
lehamito
GROWS FROM
מות
m-w-t
die, death
“slay” in this verse is lehamito. The Hebrew verb means “to cause him to die.” The wording keeps Saul’s intention active: death is the outcome he means to produce.
ALSO GROWS
mut: to die
מוּת
The basic verb names the death Saul intends to bring about.
mavet: death
מָוֶת
This noun makes explicit the outcome compressed into the English word “slay.”
שָׁאוּל
Sha'ul
GROWS FROM
שאל
sha'al
ask, request; Sha’ul means “asked for” or “requested”
The name’s sense of “requested” echoes Saul’s demand, “Bring him up to me.” The echo sits beside the verse’s plain statement that he intends David’s death.
ALSO GROWS
sha'al: ask, inquire, request
שָׁאַל
The name Sha’ul is formed from this root’s sense of asking or requesting.
she'elah: request, question
שְׁאֵלָה
This branch carries the root’s act of asking into a named request, echoing Saul’s demand for David.
THE PATTERN
A sending carries the sender’s purpose into another person’s life.
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,THE THREAD
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.The Hebrew command behind “Let my people go” uses שלח, the same root as Saul’s “sent.” One sending releases people from bondage; the other carries an intention to kill David, showing how the sender’s purpose gives direction to the act.
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