What Does 1 Kings 2:14 Mean?
He said further, I have a word for you. And she said, Speak.
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
He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said, Say on.THE KEY
The matter he carries and Bathsheba’s “speak” share one Hebrew root: what is held as a thing becomes a word when another makes room for it.
THE MEANING
A matter can be present before it is fully spoken. Here, the Hebrew uses one root for the matter being carried and Bathsheba’s “speak,” joining what is held to the act of voicing it. Her brief reply opens space for the matter to become shared.
THE ROOT
דָּבָר
dāḇār
GROWS FROM
דבר
The root carries the sense of speaking; as a noun, it names a word, matter, or thing.
“a word for you” in this verse is dāḇār. The Hebrew uses the same root for the matter Adonijah has and Bathsheba’s reply, “speak.” What English presents as a thing and an action belong to one word-family: the matter is what can be spoken.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
This is the word behind the matter he says he has; it can name both what is said and the thing being discussed.
dabbēr: Speak.
דַּבֵּר
This is Bathsheba’s reply, from the same root as the matter he carries; her answer makes speech possible.
THE PATTERN
A held word becomes shareable when another person makes room to hear it.
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant hears and responds.And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Teacher, speak.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
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant hears and responds.The Hebrew “Speak” in Samuel comes from the same root as the “matter” and “speak” in this verse. Samuel’s answer adds the listener’s side of the exchange: the word is met by someone ready to hear.
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