What Does 1 Samuel 20:35 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with 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
Hebrew makes the appointed time itself a meeting, so Jonathan’s arrival embodies the bond he shares with the beloved David.
THE MEANING
A relationship takes shape in a time and place that are kept: Jonathan goes into the field in the morning with a boy beside him, toward David. For you, the appointed moment is already more than a clock reading, it is where presence becomes possible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
An appointment is only a point on a schedule; here, the word for the appointed time carries the idea of a meeting within it.
THE ROOT
מוֹעֵד
mo’ed
GROWS FROM
יעד
y-ʿ-d
To appoint or designate; in a related verbal form, to meet by appointment.
“appointed time” in this verse is mo’ed. The verse’s לְמוֹעֵד (lemo’ed, “for the appointed meeting”) carries both a set time and the meeting it makes possible. Jonathan’s arrival enters that meeting; the hour and the relationship share one Hebrew seed.
ALSO GROWS
mo’adim: Appointed times or festivals.
מוֹעֲדִים
The same word names the recurring set times in Leviticus 23:2, where a date becomes a gathering.
ve-no’adti: “I will meet with you.”
וְנוֹעַדְתִּי
Exodus 25:22 uses a form of this root for meeting at the ark, joining appointment and encounter in one word family.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d
Beloved; the name carries the nature of one who is loved.
David’s name carries belovedness into the scene: this is not simply a scheduled meeting, but the time set with the beloved. The name makes relationship part of the verse’s meaning.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved or lover.
דּוֹד
This related word gives the name David its sense of belovedness, placing affection inside the meeting.
dōdî: My beloved.
דּוֹדִי
Song of Songs 5:16 uses this form for the speaker’s beloved, showing the relational force carried by the name’s root.
THE PATTERN
A time set apart becomes a place where presence and relationship can meet.
Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.THE THREAD
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.“I will meet with thee” renders וְנוֹעַדְתִּי (ve-no’adti, “I will meet by appointment”), from יעד (ya’ad, “appoint or designate; meet”). That is the same root behind מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “appointed time or meeting”) in this verse, so Jonathan’s appointment with David carries the same shape as a meeting at the ark.
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