What Does 2 Kings 20:4 Mean?
And before Isaiah had come out into the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him.
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 it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,THE KEY
The LORD’s word reaches Isaiah before he crosses the court’s threshold, so even a departure already underway remains unfinished.
THE MEANING
You can be on your way out and still be within reach of a word that changes what follows. Isaiah has not yet left the middle court when the LORD’s word reaches him. The interval between departure begun and departure complete remains open.
THE ROOT
דְּבַר
devar
GROWS FROM
ד־ב־ר
d-b-r
To speak or utter; the noun can also name what is spoken, a matter, or a thing.
“the word of the LORD” in this verse is devar. English “word” can sound like a message alone; the Hebrew noun can also mean a matter or thing, so the LORD’s speech enters the event itself. It arrives before Isaiah has gone out, making its timing part of the verse’s meaning.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word; matter; thing.
דָּבָר
The verse names the LORD’s utterance as both spoken word and the matter now unfolding.
dibber: To speak; declare.
דִּבֵּר
The following “saying” unfolds the arriving word as speech directly addressed to Isaiah.
יֵצֵא
yēṣēʾ
GROWS FROM
י־צ־א
y-ts-ʾ
To go out, come forth, or exit.
“come out” in this verse is yēṣēʾ. The verb places Isaiah’s departure in progress, not completed. That unfinished movement is the threshold the LORD’s word enters.
ALSO GROWS
yatsa: To go out; come forth.
יָצָא
The root makes clear that Isaiah is still on his way out when the word reaches him.
motsa: An exit; an origin or source.
מוֹצָא
This branch carries both the idea of going out and of what proceeds from a source, echoing the verse’s meeting of departure and a word arriving from the LORD.
THE PATTERN
The word of God enters a person’s present moment and opens what comes next.
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.The same Hebrew wording, “the word of the LORD came,” opens Abram’s scene. Here the word reaches Isaiah before he leaves the court; there it reaches Abram in a vision, showing the phrase as an arrival that meets a person in the present moment.
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