What Does 1 Samuel 29:2 Mean in the King James?
And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish.
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 Philistine ranks and David’s company share the same verb for passing, yet David’s place is marked as the rear.
THE MEANING
David and his men move with Achish while holding a distinct place at the rear of the procession. The same movement includes many ranks, but each company has its own position within it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that being behind means being outside the movement: David and his men are still passing on with Achish.
THE ROOT
עֹבְרִים
ʿovrîm
GROWS FROM
עבר
ʿ-b-r
To cross over, pass through, or go across.
“passed on” in this verse is ʿovrîm. The Hebrew uses the same verb for the Philistine lords and for David’s men: both are passing through the scene. English keeps the shared motion, while the phrase “in the rereward” gives David’s company a distinct place within it.
ALSO GROWS
maʿavār: A crossing or passage.
מַעֲבָר
This branch makes passing more than movement in a line: the root can name the passage itself.
ʿēver: The other side, beyond.
עֵבֶר
The same root reaches across a boundary, carrying the sense of crossing from one side to another.
בָּאַחֲרוֹנָה
baʾaḥaronah
GROWS FROM
אחר
ʾ-ḥ-r
To be behind or after.
“rereward” in this verse is baʾaḥaronah. The Hebrew locates David’s company with a word from the root of “after” and “behind.” Their rearward place is not an end to their movement; they are still passing on.
ALSO GROWS
aḥaron: Last or later.
אַחֲרוֹן
This branch makes the sequence explicit: David’s place is at the back of the passing ranks.
aḥarit: The end, latter part, or outcome.
אַחֲרִית
The root can extend from what is behind in space to what comes afterward in time.
דָּוִד
Dāwîḏ
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d
Beloved, with a related sense of close kin or uncle.
David’s name carries the nature of the beloved into a scene defined by military ranks and position. His place is at the rear with Achish, while his name remains its own personal meaning.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved or close male relative.
דּוֹד
This related word carries the belovedness compressed into David’s name.
dōdî: My beloved.
דּוֹדִי
The possessive form keeps the root’s sense of belovedness explicit.
THE PATTERN
Scripture marks the rear as an active position in a movement, sometimes protective and sometimes exposed.
And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.THE THREAD
And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.The same root, עבר, appears in “pass over” and “passed over,” linking David’s company with movement across a passage. Here, as in the verse before us, the crossing includes a company whose place alongside David matters.
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