What Does 1 Kings 12:3 Mean?
And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
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
That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,THE KEY
The verse’s first movement is release: a summons crosses distance and brings a people into the king’s presence before their words are heard.
THE MEANING
A message goes out, Jeroboam and Israel’s whole assembly come to Rehoboam, and they speak as a gathered body. Before their request is voiced, separation has already become encounter.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ
vayyishlechu
GROWS FROM
שׁלח
shalach
Send, send forth, release, let go.
“sent” in this verse is vayyishlechu. The word for sending carries the sense of releasing something outward. Here, the call does not stay at a distance: it brings people into the place where they can speak.
ALSO GROWS
shaluach: One sent; a messenger.
שָׁלוּחַ
The sent one carries a summons across the distance between sender and recipient.
shilluaḥ: Sending away; dismissal.
שִׁלּוּחַ
This branch makes the release within sending plain: what is sent is let go from its starting place.
וַיִּקְרְאוּ
vayyiqre'u
GROWS FROM
קרא
qara
Call, proclaim, name, read aloud.
“called” in this verse is vayyiqre'u. The root behind calling also gives words for reading aloud and proclamation, joining a summons to a voice made public. The call gives the sending a destination and gathers the speech that follows.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: Reading aloud; proclamation; convocation.
מִקְרָא
The same root that calls a person can also name a public reading or gathering.
qore: One who calls or reads aloud.
קֹרֵא
This branch holds calling and voiced reading together, echoing the public speech beginning in the verse.
THE PATTERN
A sending opens a path from distance to encounter, where a word can be heard or spoken.
Now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.At that very hour I sent to you; and you have done well in coming alongside. Now, then, we are all here before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by the Lord.THE THREAD
Now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.Both verses use the Hebrew root שׁלח (shalach), meaning send forth and release. In Exodus the sending is tied to bringing a people out of Egypt; here it gathers Israel before Rehoboam so their words can be heard.
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