What Does 1 Kings 9:8 Mean?
And this house, which was high, every one who passes by it shall be stunned and shall hiss, and they shall say, "Why has the LORD done so to this land and to this house?"
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 at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “astonished” also carries the sense of “desolate,” so the ruined house’s condition echoes in the shock of those who pass it.
THE MEANING
A place lifted high can still become a visible sign of devastation, and those who pass it ask what has happened to the land and the house. The ruin becomes public testimony, pressing a question about what the LORD has done.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A house’s height or sacredness guarantees its protection; the verse holds open the possibility that even an exalted place can be brought to ruin.
THE ROOT
יִשֹּׁם
yishom
GROWS FROM
שמם
sh-m-m
Be desolate; be appalled or left stunned.
“stunned” in this verse is yishom. The word translated “astonished” comes from a root that also describes desolation. The passerby’s shock echoes the state of the ruined place, making its devastation felt in both the house and its witnesses.
ALSO GROWS
shemamah: Desolation, ruin
שְׁמָמָה
This names a devastated state with the same root that describes the passerby’s astonishment.
shamem: To be desolate or appalled
שָׁמֵם
The same word family can describe a ruined place and someone stunned by what they see.
וְשָׁרָק
wesharaq
GROWS FROM
שרק
sh-r-q
Whistle or hiss.
The response is audible, not merely an inward realization. The ruined house becomes something people answer with a hiss before they ask why it has happened.
ALSO GROWS
sharaq: To whistle or hiss
שָׁרַק
This is the sound the passersby make at the ruined house.
shereqah: A hissing or whistling
שְׁרֵקָה
Jeremiah uses this noun for the sound associated with a devastated city, alongside the same word for astonishment (Jeremiah 19:8).
עֶלְיוֹן
elyon
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
Rise or ascend.
“which was high” in this verse is elyon. The word names elevation, not immunity. The verse places an exalted house beside its ruin, making its height part of the warning rather than a shield from it.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: To go up or ascend
עָלָה
The house’s height belongs to a word family of rising and going upward.
maʿalah: An ascent, step, or upward degree
מַעֲלָה
This branch keeps the idea of elevation concrete: a higher position does not guarantee permanence.
THE PATTERN
When a place entrusted to the LORD is brought to ruin, its condition becomes a public sign that provokes the question of why.
And all the nations will say, "Why has the LORD done this to this land? What means the burning of this great anger?"And I will make this city a waste, and a hissing. Everyone who passes by there will be stunned and hiss because of all its blows.Jesus said to them, Do you not see all these things? Truly, I say to you, not one stone here is let go upon another stone that is not loosened.THE THREAD
And I will make this city a waste, and a hissing. Everyone who passes by there will be stunned and hiss because of all its blows.Jeremiah repeats the same Hebrew roots for “astonished” and “hiss,” while naming the city itself as desolate and hissing. The response of the passersby echoes the ruined place: its condition and the sound it draws belong to the same word-pictures.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us