What Does 1 Samuel 22:10 Mean in the King James?
And he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
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
Prayer and provision are one movement here: what is sought for another becomes food and a weapon in his hands.
THE MEANING
Seeking the LORD for another and meeting bodily need belong to one act of care: food and a sword are placed in his hands. The care is practical and edged; it answers hunger while equipping someone facing danger.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that seeking the LORD for someone is separate from supplying what keeps that person alive.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁאַל
vayish'al
GROWS FROM
שאל
To ask, inquire, or request.
“enquired” in this verse is vayish'al. Sha’al holds asking and inquiry in one verb, so this is more than detached information gathering: another person’s need is brought before the LORD. The verse follows the inquiry with two acts of giving, joining petition to tangible supply.
ALSO GROWS
she'elah: Request; question.
שְׁאֵלָה
This branch keeps the inquiry connected to a request, rather than mere observation.
mish'al: Desire; petition.
מִשְׁאָל
This branch shows that asking can carry a need or longing, fitting an inquiry made on someone else’s behalf.
צֵידָה
tzedah
GROWS FROM
צוד
To hunt or pursue game.
“victuals” in this verse is tzedah. The word for provisions belongs to the word family of hunting and game, giving the supply a concrete, gathered quality. What English presents simply as food carries the sense of provisions secured for the journey ahead.
ALSO GROWS
tsayid: Game; hunting.
צַיִד
This noun links provisions with hunted food and makes the material sense of the supply visible.
tsayad: Hunter.
צַיָּד
The hunter belongs to the same word family, showing the practical world of securing food behind the word for provisions.
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, put, or set in place.
“gave” in this verse is natan. Natan is repeated: provisions are given, and then Goliath’s sword is given. The root can also mean putting or setting something in place, so the care here takes visible form in what another person can receive and carry.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift; present.
מַתָּנָה
The noun makes giving concrete: something is placed in another’s hands.
netinah: Giving; placing.
נְתִינָה
This branch preserves the action of giving or setting something in place, echoed by the food and sword supplied here.
THE PATTERN
Provision becomes tangible when what is needed is placed into another’s hands.
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.THE THREAD
Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.The same Hebrew word חֶרֶב (cherev, “sword”) appears in both verses: David takes Goliath’s sword when Goliath falls, and here that weapon is given to David as provision. Its violent history remains part of the gift; the care in this verse is concrete and dangerous.
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