What Does 1 Samuel 21:1 Mean in the King James?
Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
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 says Ahimelech trembles at the meeting itself, before David explains anything.
THE MEANING
A meeting can make the body tremble before the mind can explain why. The question names what is visible: David stands alone, without anyone with him. The verse leaves the cause of the alarm unspoken.
THE ROOT
וַיֶּחֱרַד
wayyeḥĕrad
GROWS FROM
חרד
To tremble or quake with alarm.
“afraid” in this verse is wayyeḥĕrad. The Hebrew verb points to trembling, a bodily response, not only an inward feeling. Ahimelech’s reaction comes at the meeting, before the question or any explanation; the text leaves its cause open.
ALSO GROWS
charadah: Trembling, terror.
חֲרָדָה
In Genesis 27:33, Isaac trembles intensely when he realizes what has happened; the word family holds the body’s alarm in view.
chared: One who trembles.
חָרֵד
Isaiah 66:2 describes someone who trembles at God’s word, showing how the same root can mark a response to an encounter or what is heard.
לְבַדֶּךָ
levadekha
GROWS FROM
בדד
To be apart or isolated.
“alone” in this verse is levadekha. The word puts David’s separation in the foreground: the question is not simply where his companions are, but why he is by himself. The root’s sense of being apart sharpens the silence around his arrival.
ALSO GROWS
badad: Alone, apart; to dwell in isolation.
בָּדָד
Numbers 23:9 uses the word for a people dwelling apart, extending aloneness from one person to a condition of separation.
badad: Alone, in silence.
בָּדָד
Lamentations 3:28 pictures someone sitting alone and silent, echoing the solitude that draws Ahimelech’s question.
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; associated with dod, “beloved.”
David’s name carries the sense of belovedness from dod. The verse places that name beside a startling, unexplained trembling and the fact of his solitude without resolving the tension between them.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved; one dearly loved.
דּוֹד
Song of Songs 1:2 uses dod for the beloved, a branch of the name’s sense.
dodi: My beloved.
דּוֹדִי
Song of Songs 2:3 uses dodi, keeping the personal tenderness within the same name-family.
THE PATTERN
Trembling marks the body’s response when an encounter breaks through ordinary composure.
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.THE THREAD
For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.Isaiah uses the same חרד root for one who trembles at God’s word. Here, the trembling comes at David’s arrival, before he explains himself; the shared root lets the body’s response remain visible even while its cause is unstated.
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