What Does 1 Kings 14:3 Mean?
And take in your hand ten loaves, spotted cakes, and a flask of honey, and come to him. He will tell you what will become of the child.
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
And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.THE KEY
The word translated “tell” means to make something known, so the prophet is asked to bring the child’s hidden future into view.
THE MEANING
When the future of someone beloved is hidden, the need to know can make every offering feel like a way toward an answer. The mother carries bread, cakes, and honey seeking a word about her child; the prophet is expected to make known what is unseen. The verse holds that longing and uncertainty together.
THE ROOT
יַגִּיד
yaggid
GROWS FROM
נגד
To be in front or conspicuous; to make known or declare.
“tell” in this verse is yaggid. The verb carries the sense of bringing something into view, not merely passing along information. The child’s future is hidden from the mother, and the prophet’s answer is expected to make it known.
ALSO GROWS
higgid: Declared, told, made known.
הִגִּיד
This form of the same root names the act of bringing what is hidden into speech.
nagid: Leader, ruler, prince.
נָגִיד
This related noun refers to one who stands at the fore, echoing the root’s sense of what is brought into view.
THE PATTERN
What is hidden becomes knowable when it is disclosed.
And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. God has set before Pharaoh what he is doing.For the Lord GOD does nothing, unless he uncovers his secret to his servants the prophets.For nothing is hidden that will not be made visible, nor anything concealed that will not be known and come into the light.THE THREAD
And Joseph said to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. God has set before Pharaoh what he is doing.The Hebrew verb translated “shewed” comes from the same root נגד as “tell” in this verse. In both, a hidden future is brought into view through a prophetic word.
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