What Does 1 Samuel 30:16 Mean in the King James?
And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
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 word translated “spread abroad” also carries the shade of being left or forsaken: the feast’s reach is already a form of exposure.
THE MEANING
The scene holds fullness and exposure together: the table is full because the raiders have taken from both Philistine and Judahite lands. They are spread across the land, yet the word for their scattering also carries the shade of being left behind. The verse shows how stolen abundance can feel secure while its possessors remain exposed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that what has been seized becomes secure simply because it is enjoyed.
THE ROOT
נְטֻשִׁים
netushim
GROWS FROM
נטש
nṭš
To leave, forsake, or abandon; in this form, to be spread or scattered.
“spread abroad” in this verse is netushim. The same verb family can describe being scattered across a place and being forsaken. The word makes the raiders’ broad spread across the land carry a second shade: they are scattered and exposed, even as they feast.
ALSO GROWS
netushim: Spread out, scattered.
נְטֻשִׁים
This is the form in the verse; it describes the raiders dispersed across the land as they eat, drink, and celebrate.
yittosh: Forsake, abandon.
יִטֹּשׁ
In 1 Samuel 12:22, the same root describes what the LORD will not do to his people, bringing the root’s sense of scattering into contrast with being held rather than forsaken.
THE PATTERN
A feast built from taking can look like fullness while carrying the instability of what is seized.
We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?THE THREAD
For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.The same Hebrew root behind “spread abroad” appears here in “forsake.” In the current verse, the raiders are scattered across the land; here, the LORD’s people are not abandoned.
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