What Does 1 Samuel 4:22 Mean in the King James?

And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

1 Samuel 4:22 · KJV

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 Hebrew says the glory has gone into exile, while calling it kavod, the weight that gives a thing its substance.

THE MEANING

This verse names the moment when what carries the deepest weight is gone, and its absence cannot be mistaken for a small loss. The taken ark makes that departure visible. The sacred object alone cannot guarantee that what it represents remains present.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The ark’s presence cannot guarantee that Israel’s deepest weight will never depart; the verse names both the ark’s capture and the loss of glory.

THE ROOT

גָּלָה

gālāh

GROWS FROM

גלה

To uncover or expose; in this form, to go into exile or depart.

“departed” in this verse is gālāh. The verb ⁨גָּלָה⁩ (gālāh, to depart or go into exile) shares its root with words for uncovering and revealing. Here, departure carries removal and exposure together: the loss is made unmistakable by the ark’s capture.

ALSO GROWS

gillāh: uncovered, revealed

גִּלָּה

This Piel form shares the root consonants ⁨גלה⁩ and names what is brought out of concealment.

niglāh: was revealed, appeared

נִגְלָה

This Niphal form carries the same root into visibility, echoing how the departure becomes unmistakable.

כָּבוֹד

kāvōd

GROWS FROM

כבד

To be heavy or weighty.

The word ⁨כָּבוֹד⁩ (kāvōd, glory or weight) comes from ⁨כבד⁩ (k-b-d, to be heavy). The verse names the loss as the departure of weight itself, not merely a loss of reputation.

ALSO GROWS

kāvēd: heavy

כָּבֵד

This form makes the root’s sense of weight concrete.

kibbēd: honored, treated as weighty

כִּבֵּד

To honor is to give weight; this branch shows how the root joins physical heaviness with significance.

THE PATTERN

The weight called glory is known by whether it fills, departs, or remains weighty under pressure.

Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Exodus 40:34 · KJVHere the glory’s weight is seen in what it fills.

Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.

Ezekiel 10:18 · KJVThe departure of glory is described as a visible movement away from its dwelling.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

2 Corinthians 4:17 · KJVThe Greek word for glory, doxa, is joined directly to weight, echoing kavod’s sense of substance.

THE THREAD

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Proverbs 25:2 · KJV

The Hebrew ⁨כָּבוֹד⁩ (kāvōd, weight or glory) appears here as both “glory” and “honour,” from the root ⁨כבד⁩ (k-b-d, to be heavy). In 1 Samuel, that weight departs; Proverbs shows it can also be concealed, making absence and hiddenness distinct ways weight is encountered.

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