What Does 1 Samuel 24:1 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.
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 report sets the one named Beloved before Saul, turning a wilderness location into the next focus of pursuit.
THE MEANING
You can turn back from one pursuit and still be redirected by the next report that reaches you. Here, David’s name carries belovedness, while the wilderness location makes him newly visible to the power that is searching. The verse shows how a message can move someone from out of sight to the center of another person’s attention.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A break in pursuit does not guarantee safety: as soon as David’s location is disclosed, Saul’s attention can turn toward him again.
THE ROOT
הֻגַּד
huggad
GROWS FROM
נגד
n-g-d
To declare or make known; to bring something into notice.
“it was told” in this verse is huggad. The root’s branches let “told” carry an image of making something stand before the hearer. David is physically in the wilderness, yet the report puts him before Saul’s awareness.
ALSO GROWS
higgid: He declared or told
הִגִּיד
This is another verbal form from the same root of making known.
neged: In front of, opposite
נֶגֶד
What is made known can be set before someone in attention even when it is distant in place.
nagid: Leader, one set in front
נָגִיד
The same consonants appear in a word for the one placed out front, echoing how a report can place someone in the field of power.
שָׁב
shav
GROWS FROM
שוב
sh-w-b
To turn back or return.
“returned” in this verse is shav. The root names a turning back, but the verse does not make return mean arrival at rest: once Saul is back, news redirects his attention toward David. The root keeps the line of motion visible beneath the English sequence.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: To turn back, return
שׁוּב
It is the base verb behind Saul’s return from following the Philistines.
heshiv: To bring back, restore
הֵשִׁיב
This causative form shows the root’s movement can also bring something or someone back.
teshuvah: Return, turning back
תְּשׁוּבָה
This noun preserves the root’s sense of a change in direction.
דָּוִד
Dawid
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d
Beloved; the cherished one.
The report does not name an anonymous target; it names David, the beloved. That name-nature remains beside the wilderness location, holding intimacy and exposure together.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved; also a close male relative
דּוֹד
The name David carries the word’s sense of belovedness.
dodim: Loves, caresses
דּוֹדִים
This related form keeps affection and intimacy within the same word family.
THE PATTERN
News makes the unseen actionable, redirecting the next response.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.THE THREAD
And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?The same Hebrew root for “it was told” appears here: news makes escape visible to power, and the response turns toward pursuit. It opens this verse further by showing the report as a hinge, what reaches Saul’s hearing determines who occupies his attention next.
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