What Does Ezekiel 28:1 Mean?
And the word of the LORD came to me again, 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
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,THE KEY
The Hebrew calls the arriving word both speech and matter: what reaches the hearer is not only a sentence, but something that enters the moment.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s word reaches you as a living address. The Hebrew word for “word” can also mean a matter or thing, so the verse lets speech arrive with substance.
THE ROOT
דְּבַר
devar
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; as a noun, a word, matter, or thing.
The same Hebrew word can name both speech and the matter spoken. What arrives here carries substance as well as a message.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
It shows how the word arriving can also be understood as a matter entering the hearer’s life.
dibbēr: He spoke.
דִּבֵּר
This verb shares the root and connects the arriving word with the act of speaking that follows.
וַיְהִי
wayehi
GROWS FROM
היה
To be, become, happen, or come to pass.
The Hebrew verb beneath “came” is a form of “be” or “happen,” so the word’s arrival is itself an event. What is spoken becomes present with the hearer.
ALSO GROWS
wayehi: And it was; and it happened.
וַיְהִי
This form frames the word’s arrival as something taking place.
yihyeh: He or it will be.
יִהְיֶה
This form shows the root’s link between being and what comes to pass.
THE PATTERN
A word from God arrives as an address that carries substance and works within its hearer.
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,And for this reason we also thank God without leaving a gap. For when you took hold of the word of God that you heard from us, you received it not as the word of humankind, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who trust.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.Both verses use דָּבָר (dāḇār), the word that can mean speech or matter, and describe the LORD’s word arriving to someone. In Genesis, the arriving word carries a concrete assurance, showing how speech and substance meet in the hearer.
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