What Does 1 Samuel 28:6 Mean in the King James?
And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
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 king whose Hebrew name means “asked-for” now asks, and every channel through which an answer might come is silent.
THE MEANING
Saul asks the LORD and receives no answer through dreams, Urim, or prophets. The verse holds the ache of seeking while every recognized route of response is silent for the one asking now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that asking guarantees an answer through a familiar channel: Saul asks, but none of the three named channels brings one.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁאַל
vayish'al
GROWS FROM
שׁאל
to ask, request, or seek
“enquired” in this verse is vayish'al. The Hebrew verb for Saul’s enquiry shares its root with his name, Sha’ul, commonly understood as “asked-for.” The asked-for king is now the one asking, and the repeated root makes his unanswered request echo the story carried in his name.
ALSO GROWS
sha'al: to ask, request, or inquire
שָׁאַל
This is the verb’s root form: Saul’s act of enquiry is an act of asking.
Sha'ul: asked-for
שָׁאוּל
Saul’s name comes from the same root, linking the king Israel asked for with the king now asking the LORD.
THE PATTERN
Scripture names moments when a question or cry meets silence without hiding the absence of a response.
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.THE THREAD
And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.In Hebrew, “asked” in 8:10 and “enquired” here come from שאל (sha’al), meaning to ask or request; Saul’s name, Sha’ul, carries the sense “asked-for.” The king Israel asked for is now the one asking the LORD, and the named channels bring no answer.
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