What Does 1 Samuel 28:10 Mean in the King James?
And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
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 assurance is phrased as a conditional oath, “As the LORD lives, if guilt meets you”, leaving its consequence unstated while binding Saul’s words to the LORD’s name.
THE MEANING
A promise made in the LORD’s name binds the speaker to the assurance. The Hebrew takes an oath-shaped form, “As the LORD lives, if guilt meets you in this matter”, whose force is that no punishment will reach her. The promise of protection and the speaker’s accountability occupy the same sentence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that invoking God’s name makes a promise consequence-free: the oath binds its speaker to the assurance.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשָּׁבַע
wayyiššāvaʿ
GROWS FROM
שׁבע
To swear or take an oath.
“sware” in this verse is wayyiššāvaʿ. The root שׁבע (sh-b-ʿ, to swear) names the act, while שְׁבוּעָה (shevuʿah, oath) names the pledge formed by it. Saul’s words use a conditional oath formula, making his assurance more than emphatic speech: it is bound to the name he invokes.
ALSO GROWS
shevuʿah: Oath, sworn pledge.
שְׁבוּעָה
This noun names the binding pledge contained in Saul’s reassurance.
nishbaʿ: Swore, took an oath.
נִשְׁבַּע
This form shares the root and shows the act of swearing expressed in the verse.
hishbiaʿ: Made someone swear, adjured.
הִשְׁבִּיעַ
This causative form shows that the same root can bind another person to an oath.
דָּבָר
dāḇār
GROWS FROM
דבר
Word or speech; also a matter or affair.
The Hebrew דָּבָר (dāḇār, word or matter) holds together what English divides into speech and “thing.” The oath is spoken over “this matter,” joining the words of assurance to the event they address.
ALSO GROWS
dibbēr: Spoke.
דִּבֵּר
This verb comes from the same root and connects the matter in the verse with spoken words.
dibbur: Speech, utterance.
דִּבּוּר
This noun shows the speech-side of the same root that names the matter Saul’s oath concerns.
THE PATTERN
An oath makes a speaker’s assurance answerable to the greater name invoked.
And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.THE THREAD
And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:The Hebrew root שׁבע (sh-b-ʿ, to swear) in Saul’s “sware” also appears in “make thee swear.” In both verses, the oath binds a commitment to the LORD’s name, revealing the invoked name as part of the pledge’s force.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us