What Does 1 Samuel 6:13 Mean in the King James?
And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
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 sacred is not waiting beyond the day’s work: the ark becomes visible in the middle of harvest, and recognition itself opens joy.
THE MEANING
You are in the work of gathering what has grown, and the verse leaves room for recognition inside that work. The Hebrew repeats the verb “see”: the people see the ark and rejoice to see it. The harvest is still underway when gladness arrives; ordinary labor and encounter occupy the same moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a sacred encounter must happen outside ordinary labor; here, the harvest is still underway when recognition becomes joy.
THE ROOT
וַיִּרְאוּ
vayir'u lir'oto
GROWS FROM
ראה
ra'ah
see, perceive, look upon
“saw / to see” in this verse is vayir'u lir'oto. The same root appears when the people see the ark and when they rejoice “to see it.” That repetition makes perception the hinge of the verse: the sight is not incidental to the harvest; it is what opens joy.
ALSO GROWS
mar'eh: appearance, vision
מַרְאֶה
This branch names what is made visible; the people encounter the ark itself, not merely a detail in the field.
ro'eh: one who sees, a seer
רֹאֶה
The same root can describe the perceiver, keeping the verse’s focus on seeing as an encounter.
וַיִּשְׂמְחוּ
vayismechu
GROWS FROM
שמח
samach
rejoice, be glad
“rejoiced” in this verse is vayismechu. The root names gladness that rises in response to what is encountered. Here the people’s joy is tied directly to seeing the ark, while the harvest continues around them.
ALSO GROWS
simchah: joy, gladness
שִׂמְחָה
This noun from the same root names the response that fills the moment when the ark comes into view.
mesammeach: one who makes glad
מְשַׂמֵּחַ
This form shows the root’s causative sense: something encountered can bring gladness, as the ark does here.
קֹצְרִים
qotserim
GROWS FROM
קצר
qatsar
reap, cut down
The verse pairs the verb for reaping with קָצִיר (qatsir), the word for harvest, from the same root. The field’s abundance is named through the act of cutting mature stalks and gathering them.
ALSO GROWS
qatsir: harvest, crop
קָצִיר
This is the harvest being gathered in the verse, formed from the same root as the act of reaping.
qotser: reaper
קוֹצֵר
This form names the one doing the cutting, making the people’s work and the harvest part of one word family.
THE PATTERN
When divine presence becomes recognizable, perception opens into joy.
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.THE THREAD
And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?Genesis uses the same ראה (ra’ah, see/perceive) root in both “Thou God seest me” and “him that seeth me.” It turns the direction of sight around: here people see the ark and rejoice; there, God is named as the one who sees.
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