What Does 1 Samuel 23:16 Mean in the King James?

And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

1 Samuel 23:16 · KJV

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

Jonathan does not remove David from danger; he makes David’s hand firm in God while the danger remains.

THE MEANING

The threat around you can remain real while your hand is made firm in God. Jonathan’s presence steadies David’s capacity to meet what is ahead without taking his place.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that strength must be generated alone dissolves here: David receives strength through another person, with God as its ground.

THE ROOT

וַיְחַזֵּק

wayyeḥazzeq

GROWS FROM

חזק

To become firm or strong, to prevail; in this form, to make firm or strengthen.

“strengthened” in this verse is wayyeḥazzeq. The Hebrew verb comes from ⁨חזק⁩, which carries the sense of firmness and strength. With David’s hand as its object, Jonathan is steadying his capacity to act; the phrase places that firmness in God.

ALSO GROWS

ḥāzāq: Strong, firm

חָזָק

This branch names the condition Jonathan helps David enter: firmness amid danger.

heḥĕzîq: To hold fast, grasp, or strengthen

הֶחֱזִיק

The same root can describe strength as something held onto and as an act that makes another firm.

THE PATTERN

Strength rooted in God steadies a person’s capacity to act, whether it arrives through another person or is renewed inwardly.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Isaiah 35:3 · KJVThe image makes strength visible as weak hands and knees becoming firm enough to hold and move.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Ephesians 6:10 · KJVStrength is located in the Lord, as it is for David, rather than treated as a resource David must produce alone.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

1 Samuel 30:6 · KJVWhen David faces danger again, the same Hebrew root describes him becoming firm in the LORD his God.

THE THREAD

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

1 Samuel 30:6 · KJV

“Encouraged himself” comes from the same Hebrew root ⁨חזק⁩ as “strengthened” here. Jonathan’s strengthening does not make David dependent on Jonathan; it helps David find firmness in the LORD his God.

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