What Does 1 Kings 14:10 Mean?
Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off from Jeroboam him who pisses against the wall, and the bound and the left behind in Israel, and I will burn out the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one burns the dung until it is all used up.
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
Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.THE KEY
The same Hebrew verb frames the threat and its comparison: the house is to be cleared away with the finality of refuse.
THE MEANING
You are confronted with an announced eradication of a ruling household down to its last male and remaining member. The comparison to dung deliberately strips the house of dignity: the threat is removal until nothing remains.
THE ROOT
יְבַעֵר
yəvaʿēr
GROWS FROM
בָּעַר
bāʿar
Burn, consume, or clear away.
“burn out” in this verse is yəvaʿēr. The Hebrew repeats this verb: first for what will happen to the house, then for how someone clears away dung. That repetition makes the comparison part of the threat itself: the house is treated as refuse to be removed until none remains.
ALSO GROWS
uviʿartî: I will consume or clear away.
וּבִעַרְתִּי
This is the earlier form of the same verb, describing the removal of the house.
yəvaʿēr: He clears away.
יְבַעֵר
In the comparison, this same verb describes removing dung, joining the image directly to the threat.
הִכְרַתִּי
hikhrattî
GROWS FROM
כָּרַת
kārat
Cut or sever.
“cut off” in this verse is hikhrattî. The verb names severance: this threat reaches beyond defeat to the cutting off of a household line. The same root appears in the Hebrew phrase for making a covenant, literally “cut a covenant,” so here the language of binding is turned toward ending a lineage.
ALSO GROWS
kārat: Cut or sever.
כָּרַת
This is the root verb behind “cut off,” making the threatened removal a direct image of severance.
kārat berit: Cut a covenant.
כָּרַת בְּרִית
The shared root links the verse’s severing of a house with Hebrew’s language for establishing a covenant.
שְׁאֵרִית
sheʾērît
GROWS FROM
שָׁאַר
shāʾar
Remain or be left over.
The word for “remnant” means what remains after the rest is gone. The verse names that remainder, then closes with “till it be all gone,” pressing the image toward zero survivors.
ALSO GROWS
sheʾār: Remainder or rest.
שְׁאָר
This form names what is left, the very thing the threat says will be removed.
sheʾērît: Remnant.
שְׁאֵרִית
This is the word used in the verse, for what remains of the house.
THE PATTERN
Judgment is pictured as complete removal, until no name, house, or remnant remains.
For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab him who pisses against the wall, and him who is bound and left behind in Israel.For I will rise up against them, says the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name and the remnant, the son and the offspring, says the LORD.And a strong messenger lifts a stone like a great millstone, and throws it into the sea, saying, With a rush shall Babylon the great city be thrown down, and shall never be found again.THE THREAD
For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab him who pisses against the wall, and him who is bound and left behind in Israel.The same cut-off formula returns for the house of Ahab, showing that the phrase marks the erasure of a male line, not merely a loss of rule. The shared root כָּרַת (kārat, cut or sever) makes the scope of the threat unmistakable.
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