What Does 1 Chronicles 18:9 Mean?
And Tou king of Hamath heard how David had struck all the army of Hadarezer king of Zobah.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah;THE KEY
In Hebrew, hearing already leans toward response: Tou’s reception of a report of violence is the hinge that moves the next action.
THE MEANING
The verse places you at the hinge where a report of violence is heard and the next relationship begins to change: Tou’s hearing leads to an envoy in the following verse. What reaches the ear is not inert information; it shapes the next act.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that hearing is passive, consequence-free reception; here, hearing begins a changed response.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁמַע
wayyishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed.
“heard” in this verse is wayyishmaʿ. The English past tense can make hearing sound like a finished receipt of information, but this root also carries listening that attends and responds. Tou’s hearing is the hinge between a report of violence and the diplomatic movement that follows.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear, listen, heed.
שְׁמַע
The familiar call to hear carries an answering posture; here, Tou’s hearing is followed by an envoy.
shemuʿah: Report, news, tidings.
שְׁמוּעָה
A report is something heard, and this one changes what happens next.
דָּוִד
Dawid
GROWS FROM
דוד
d-w-d
Beloved; beloved one.
David’s name carries “beloved” within it. The verse places that relational meaning beside the report of a total military defeat, holding belovedness and violence in the same scene without letting one erase the other.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved; loved one; also a kinsman such as an uncle.
דּוֹד
This branch makes the relational meaning in David’s name visible beside the force attributed to him here.
dodim: Loves, endearments, caresses.
דּוֹדִים
This related form carries affection and attachment, adding depth to the name that Tou hears in this verse.
THE PATTERN
Across scripture, hearing becomes consequential when it opens into response.
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant hears and responds.Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.The same Hebrew verb underlies “heard” here and “hear” in Isaiah. In this passage the report leads toward an envoy; Isaiah links hearing with coming and life, and carries David’s name into that promise.
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