What Does 1 Samuel 9:2 Mean in the King James?

And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

1 Samuel 9:2 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Israel’s request for a king appears as a man whose name means “asked for,” and whose height makes the answer look self-evident.

THE MEANING

A request can take a human shape and appear to validate itself: the asked-for one stands taller than everyone around him. The verse gives that visible stature real force while showing how much a person’s height cannot tell you. You are left with the gap between the answer you can see and the meaning of what you asked for.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

An answer’s impressive appearance does not prove that the request behind it was wise.

THE ROOT

שָׁאוּל

sha'ul

GROWS FROM

שאל

sha'al

To ask or request.

Saul’s name, ⁨שָׁאוּל⁩ (sha’ul, asked for), carries the root ⁨שאל⁩ (sha’al, ask or request). The name makes him a living trace of the people’s request, and the verse gives that request a visible form in a man whose height sets him apart.

ALSO GROWS

sha'al: To ask or request.

שָׁאַל

This is the root verb beneath Saul’s name, tying the person directly to the act of asking.

she'elah: A request or petition.

שְׁאֵלָה

This noun makes the connection plain: Saul’s name echoes the request that brings him into view.

בָּחוּר

bachur

GROWS FROM

בחר

bachar

To choose or select.

“choice young man” in this verse is bachur. The Hebrew noun ⁨בָּחוּר⁩ (bachur, young man) is formed from ⁨בחר⁩ (bachar, choose or select). Alongside the meaning carried in Saul’s name, it gives the description a quiet double resonance: he is the one asked for and the standout figure among the people.

ALSO GROWS

bachar: To choose or select.

בָּחַר

This root sits beneath the word for young man and lends Saul’s description a resonance of selection.

bachir: A chosen or selected one.

בָּחִיר

This related word makes the selection resonance audible as Saul is presented as exceptional among Israel’s men.

THE PATTERN

What is asked for can take visible form before its deeper character or cost is known.

And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

1 Samuel 8:5 · KJVThe demand for a king gives a clear shape to what the people are asking for.

And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

Psalm 106:15 · KJVReceiving what is requested does not by itself mean the request brings wholeness.

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

James 4:3 · KJVThe act of asking can conceal a desire whose nature is different from its outward request.

THE THREAD

And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

Psalm 106:15 · KJV

The word “request” here comes from ⁨שאל⁩ (sha’al, ask or request), the same root carried in Saul’s name, ⁨שָׁאוּל⁩ (sha’ul, asked for). The name turns the people’s request into a person; this psalm holds open the possibility that receiving what is asked for does not itself bring wholeness.

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