What Does 1 Samuel 22:3 Mean in the King James?
And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.
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
Mizpeh is a lookout: here, waiting becomes a place of shelter where the next step comes into view.
THE MEANING
You can shelter what you love while the next step is still unknown. The pause holds room for God’s action to become clear; care is already present before the future is.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The unknown next step does not mean nothing is happening or that care must wait until certainty arrives.
THE ROOT
מִצְפֶּה
Mitzpeh
GROWS FROM
צפה
To look out, watch, or keep watch.
Mizpeh names a lookout, so the waiting takes place in watchfulness: a refuge is also a vantage point. The future is not forced into advance certainty; it is watched for as it becomes visible.
ALSO GROWS
tsopheh: A watcher or lookout.
צֹפֶה
The watcher stays attentive while the next movement is still unseen.
mitzpeh: A lookout or watchtower.
מִצְפֶּה
This is the place-name in the verse, joining shelter with the act of watching.
יָדַע
yada
GROWS FROM
ידע
To know, recognize, or perceive.
English “know” can sound like possessing information, but yada also carries recognition through encounter. David waits for what God will do to become something he can perceive, rather than claiming certainty in advance.
ALSO GROWS
da’at: Knowledge or understanding.
דַּעַת
This branch shows knowing as what becomes understood, not merely what is predicted.
hôdîa‘: To make known or disclose.
הוֹדִיעַ
The same root can describe what becomes known when it is revealed.
THE PATTERN
A held-open interval can become the place where the unseen next step comes into view.
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.THE THREAD
Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.The same yada stands behind both requests to know: here David waits to know what God will do; there, the request reaches further, asking to know God through the way God shows. The connection turns an unknown outcome toward encounter without making uncertainty disappear.
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