Good question about the meaning of the word there Nige.
Checking the Hebrew, it is the Hebrew
Suwr/
סור, and according to Strong's it means "to turn aside, depart, depart from away, avoid, to be removed, to come to an end, to take away, to put away, depose, to put aside, retract from, reject, abolish, to be taken away, to be removed."
The
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says this concerning the word:
The primary meaning of the root is “to turn aside.” It appears to be a distinctively Northwest Semitic word, being attested particularly in Hebrew and Phoenician. Intransitive in the basic stem, it is accordingly frequently found with many prepositions, yielding such ideas as “turn aside from/into,” and “withdraw from.”
The verbal root occurs 191 times. In many cases it is a simple verb of motion, the act of turning aside (Ex 3:3-4; Jud 4:18; Ruth 4:1) or departing (Num 12:10).
The idea of departing could also involve spiritual issues. Thus, Samson “knew not that the Lord had departed from him” (Jud 16:20). “The Lord departed from Saul” ( I Sam 16:14; 28:16). Tragically, it was said repeatedly of Israel and its leaders that they did not depart “from the sins of Jeroboam” (II Kgs 10:31; 13:2, 6, 11; 14:24; 15:9, 18, 24, 28; 17:22; cf. 3:3). God complained against Jerusalem that the heart of his people had departed from him (Ezk 6:9). Unfortunately, those who had “departed not from following the Lord” (II Kgs 18:6) were all too few.
The root is often used of Israel’s apostasy. In many cases it is translated “turn aside/away” (e.g. Ex 32:8; Deut 9:12; 11:16). Conversely, “not to turn aside” was a way of affirming a man’s steadfastness before the Lord (I Kgs 22:43). Such a course of following strictly the will of God is frequently depicted by wedding the root to the familiar right hand-left hand motif. Thus, it was said of Josiah that he “did not turn aside to the right hand, nor to the left” (II Kgs 22:2; cf. Deut 2:27; 5:32 [H 29]; Josh 1:7).
In the Hiphil stem, the meaning “remove” is most common. Asa removes Maacah for her continued idolatry (II Chr 15:16). Hezekiah removes the places and cult objects of idolatry (II Kgs 18:4; II Chr 30:14). God’s people are urged to remove or “put away” those things that will do spiritual harm to them: strange gods (Gen 35:2), all evil (Isa 1:16), wine (I Sam 1:14), false ways (Ps 119:29), and false worship (Amos 5:21–23).
I guess the word in 1 Shamu'el 16:14: should probably be best translated as "was removed from", as that is its most common meaning.
We all come into this with the "Christian Saved" mindset as I like to call it - You say a little prayer inviting God into your life and "Woooooo! SAVED!"
It's a lot more complicated than that, and Scripture is replete with people who once relied on God, and then turned their backs on Him (Pretty sure Yahuweh laments about this constantly in the Psalms.)
I did a thorough study of this a couple of years back for my old Church's Home group meeting, and I picked up on this in Yahushua's speech to Nicodemus:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (ESV)
If it was a case of inviting God into your life and then walla - saved for eternity, then the Greek of this verse should have "believes" (πιστευω/pisteuo - to trust) in it's aorist tense - the aorist tense indicating a past event that has continues effect on the future - and it would be translated as,
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever has trusted in Him should not perish, but have eternal life..
However, the Greek word πιστευω/pisteuo is in its
present, continuous, active tense, and it should actually be translated as
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever is actively placing trust inside Him should not perish, but have eternal life..
It's not just a case of placing trust into Yahuweh "once", but about
trusting Him, continuously.
To break the amplification of this verse down from my Version 1 Translation:
For (γαρ - the reason that)
in this manner (ουτως - way, thus and so)
, God (ΘΣ)
dearly loved (αγαπαω - welcomed, entertained and looked fondly upon, cherished with strong affection and highly esteemed with great favour, goodwill and benevolence, was loyal to and greatly adored)
the (τον)
world (κοσμον - cosmos, galaxy and universe, the entire realm of man)
, so that (ωστε - therefore, for this reason and as a result of this)
He gave (εδωκεν - granted, supplied and furnished, bestowed and delivered, committed and permitted, extended and presented)
the One (τον μονογενη - only unique)
Son (ο ΥΣ)
so that (ινα - in order that and with the result that)
all (πας - individually and collectively)
those (ο)
who are actively placing trust (πιστευων - reliance, obedience and confidence, certainty and guarantee, assurance and dependence)
inside (εις - within)
Him (αυτον)
may not (μη)
be destroyed (απολυηται - ruined, annihilated or rendered useless, lost or abolished, obliterated, wasted or caused to perish or pass away)
but nevertheless (αλλ - notwithstanding and on the contrary)
may have (εχη - hold, acquire and receive, own and possess)
eternal (αιωνιον - never ending, everlasting and perpetual)
life (ζωην - continued existence)
."
This is how David got away with quite a lot - no matter what he did (and got punished for - let's not forget that he did get punished for what he did), David never stopped trusting Yahuweh. Saul did, and that's why Yahuweh's Spirit was removed from him.
I also saw a similar vein in 2 Timothy (OMWOHNOEZ - THE EVILZOFPAULZ!!) that the author (maybe Paul, maybe someone else) states that he has
"kept (τηρεω - guarded, held on to and retained, attended to and maintained, kept an eye on and watched over, preserved and protected)
the trust (πιστις - reliance, obedience and confidence, certainty and guarantee, assurance and dependence in the Trustworthy One)
."
He literally "grabbed and held onto" the trust that he had in Yahuweh - he never gave it up.