What Does 1 Samuel 20:6 Mean in the King James?
If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
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 doubles both the verb for Saul taking note of David’s absence and the verb for David’s supposed request, making the cover story sound as emphatic as the inquiry it anticipates.
THE MEANING
David (דָּוִד, Dāvid, “beloved”) scripts how his absence will be explained: he has asked to go to Bethlehem (בֵּית לֶחֶם, Bēt Leḥem, “house of bread”) for the family sacrifice. The verse presents this family obligation as a cover for his absence. Its repeated verbs give weight to both Saul’s checking for David and David’s claimed request.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A plausible explanation for someone’s absence does not guarantee that it tells the whole truth; here, the family sacrifice is a cover story.
THE ROOT
פָּקֹד יִפְקְדֵנִי
paqod yifqedeni
GROWS FROM
פ־ק־ד
p-q-d
to attend to, visit, take note of, or oversee
“miss me” in this verse is paqod yifqedeni. The doubled verb פָּקֹד יִפְקְדֵנִי (paqod yifqedeni, “surely take note of me”) carries more than the feeling of missing someone: it pictures active attention to a person’s presence or absence. Saul’s expected response is to check for David, and the repeated form makes that attention emphatic.
ALSO GROWS
pequddah: oversight, charge, appointment, or visitation
פְּקֻדָּה
This branch shows the root extending from taking note of someone to the responsibility or oversight that keeps track of them.
paqīd: officer or overseer
פָּקִיד
The overseer embodies the root’s active attention, illuminating Saul’s anticipated checking on David’s absence.
נִשְׁאֹל נִשְׁאַל
nish'ol nish'al
GROWS FROM
שׁ־א־ל
sh-ʾ-l
to ask or request
“earnestly asked leave” in this verse is nish'ol nish'al. The repeated ask-word marks David’s supposed request as emphatic. The same root appears in Saul’s name, שָׁאוּל (Sha’ul, “asked for”), tying the request David claims to make to the father whose inquiry he anticipates.
ALSO GROWS
she'elah: a question or request
שְׁאֵלָה
This noun preserves the root’s movement from asking to the request itself, the very claim that makes David’s planned excuse sound ordinary.
Sha'ul: Saul; “asked for”
שָׁאוּל
Saul’s name comes from the same ask-root that David’s claimed request repeats, placing the asker and the one being asked about inside one verbal echo.
THE PATTERN
A cover story makes concealed intent pass as an ordinary identity, duty, or piece of evidence.
And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.THE THREAD
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.The Hebrew verb behind “desired” in Psalm 27:4 comes from שׁ־א־ל (sh-ʾ-l, “ask or request”), the same root repeated in David’s claimed request here. The root can voice an openly stated desire or a request shaped to conceal its purpose; the word alone does not reveal which one is being spoken.
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