What Does 1 Samuel 22:5 Mean in the King James?
And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.
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 hold shares a root with hunting and capture, while Judah is named from praise: the command turns enclosure toward a place whose name carries praise.
THE MEANING
Protection can become enclosure when staying is no longer the life-giving movement. The verse turns the reader from the hold toward Judah, whose name carries praise, and then into a forest where the next shelter is still hidden among the trees. Direction is present before the landscape feels fully secure.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that safety must mean staying in the place that has sheltered you.
THE ROOT
מְצוּדָה
metsudah
GROWS FROM
צוד
tsud
To hunt, catch, capture.
The word translated hold is מְצוּדָה (metsudah), formed from צוד (tsud, to hunt or catch). Its word family includes hunted prey and a hunting net, so hold carries an undertone of capture alongside shelter; the command to leave breaks that enclosing image.
ALSO GROWS
tsayid: Game or prey taken in hunting.
צַיִד
This branch brings the language of capture into the word family behind the place called a hold.
matsod: A hunting net or snare.
מָצוֹד
This branch shows the root’s capture image in an instrument of enclosure, adding weight to the command to leave.
יְהוּדָה
Yehudah
GROWS FROM
ידה
yadah
To praise, thank, or acknowledge.
Judah’s name is tied to Leah’s words, “Now will I praise the LORD,” in Genesis 29:35, where the verb comes from ידה (yadah, praise, thank, acknowledge). The destination carries a name shaped by praise, giving the direction a layer beyond geography.
ALSO GROWS
todah: Thanksgiving or praise.
תּוֹדָה
This noun carries the same root’s movement of giving thanks, which is embedded in Judah’s name.
modeh: One who gives thanks or acknowledges.
מוֹדֶה
This form shows the root as an act of acknowledgment, echoing the name’s connection to praise.
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
dod
Beloved; beloved one.
David echoes דוד (dod, beloved), making belovedness part of the name’s nature. The command sends the beloved one out of the hold, and he carries that identity with him.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved one; also a close male relative.
דּוֹד
The shared consonants preserve the beloved sense carried in David’s name.
dodim: Loves or beloved affections.
דּוֹדִים
This plural form makes the root’s language of love explicit.
THE PATTERN
Guidance can turn a place of enclosure into the starting point of movement before the next place is fully visible.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.THE THREAD
And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.Genesis ties the name Judah to the words “Now will I praise the LORD,” using ידה (yadah, praise or thank). That root gives the destination in 1 Samuel 22:5 a second dimension: David is directed toward a place whose name carries praise.
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