What Does 1 Samuel 27:4 Mean in the King James?
And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.
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
Beneath “sought no more again” is the image of a pursuit to which Saul adds nothing further, its end says nothing by itself about reconciliation.
THE MEANING
The verse lets the reader hold two things together now: the search has ceased, but the text does not call that reconciliation. The end of pursuing someone, by itself, does not tell what has changed in the relationship.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A stopped pursuit means the relationship has healed. The verse separates the two: it reports the search ending, without naming reconciliation.
THE ROOT
וְלֹא־יָסַף עוֹד
velo-yasaf od
GROWS FROM
יסף
y-s-f
add, increase, continue
“no more again” in this verse is velo-yasaf od. The line pairs לֹא (lo, not) and עוֹד (od, further) with יָסַף (yasaf, add or continue): Saul does not add further to seeking David. The root makes the line’s emphasis the continuation of the search, while saying nothing by itself about reconciliation.
ALSO GROWS
yosef: he will add; may he add
יוֹסֵף
Joseph’s name echoes this form in Rachel’s wish that the LORD add another son (Genesis 30:24); here the same root marks no further addition to the pursuit.
hosif: add, increase
הוֹסִיף
This form names adding to a quantity; the verse’s form marks the point where Saul adds nothing further to his seeking.
לְבַקְשׁוֹ
levaqsho
GROWS FROM
בקשׁ
b-q-sh
seek, request, pursue
The verb לְבַקְשׁוֹ (levaqsho, to seek him) can carry the shades of seeking, requesting, or pursuing; here its object is David, so “sought” includes purposeful pursuit. The root itself does not settle whether seeking is hostile or relational; the object and purpose give the search its direction.
ALSO GROWS
mevaqqeshim: those seeking
מְבַקְשִׁים
Exodus 4:19 uses this form for the men seeking Moses’ life, showing the root can describe a threatening pursuit.
mevaqqesh: one who seeks
מְבַקֵּשׁ
Joseph uses this form when he says he seeks his brothers (Genesis 37:16); the same root names the search without deciding its moral character.
THE PATTERN
A search is directed pursuit whose aim can threaten another person, while its ending alone says nothing about reconciliation.
And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.THE THREAD
And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.Joseph says “I seek my brethren” with the same Hebrew root ב־ק־שׁ (b-q-sh, seek or request) that describes Saul’s pursuit. The shared root names directed seeking in both lines, while the object changes its direction, from searching for brothers to pursuing David.
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