What Does 1 Kings 6:11 Mean?
And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, 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
And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,THE KEY
In Hebrew, the “word” reaching Solomon is also a “matter” or “thing,” so divine speech arrives inside the substance of the work.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s word reaches Solomon within the work he is carrying out. Its Hebrew word, davar, can also mean a matter or thing, so what is spoken bears on the substance of life, not only on thought.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse unsettles the idea that a divine word belongs only to the inward or abstract: it reaches Solomon amid a physical building project.
THE ROOT
דָּבָר
dāḇār
GROWS FROM
ד־ב־ר
d-b-r
Speak; word, matter, or thing.
Davar names both what is spoken and a matter or thing. English separates speech from substance, while this Hebrew word holds them together in the address that reaches Solomon.
ALSO GROWS
dibbēr: spoke
דִּבֵּר
The same consonantal root links the spoken word with the act of speaking.
dəḇārîm: words; matters or things
דְּבָרִים
The plural can refer to words or matters, keeping speech and substance within the same word family.
שְׁלֹמֹה
Shelomoh
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ם
sh-l-m
Be whole, sound, or complete.
Solomon’s name belongs to the same root family as shalom, wholeness. The verse places the arriving word with a person whose name carries that resonance as the temple is being built.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness
שָׁלוֹם
The name Solomon shares this root family, carrying a resonance of wholeness.
shalem: whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
This branch makes the root’s sense of completeness audible in Solomon’s name.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s word arrives as an address inside a person’s unfolding life.
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, and your very great wages.Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,While Annas and Caiaphas were the chief priests, the word of God came upon John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.THE THREAD
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, and your very great wages.Genesis uses the same Hebrew word, davar, for the LORD’s word that reaches Abram. The repeated root shows the word arriving to a person as a spoken address, while the message itself changes.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us