What Does Isaiah 36:13 Mean?
Then the chief cupbearer stood and called out with a great voice in the language of Judah, and said, Hear and respond to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
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
Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.THE KEY
The same Hebrew word makes both the voice and the king “great,” so the claim of authority swells before its words are even heard.
THE MEANING
You hear a voice stand in the open, rise into a “great” voice, and address you in your own tongue with a ruler’s claim. Familiar language and great volume press toward your attention before the words have been weighed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A voice does not become true or rightful merely because it is loud, public, and spoken in your language.
THE ROOT
גָּדוֹל
gadol
GROWS FROM
גדל
g-d-l
To grow, become great, or increase.
English gives you volume in “loud voice” and stature in “great king,” but Hebrew repeats gadol (גָּדוֹל, great) for both. The shared root links the force of the sound to the greatness claimed for its speaker.
ALSO GROWS
gadal: To grow or become great.
גָּדַל
The root’s sense of increase sits beneath both the voice’s volume and the king’s claimed stature.
gedullah: Greatness, majesty.
גְּדֻלָּה
It carries the same idea of greatness that the speaker attaches to the king.
שִׁמְעוּ
shim'u
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear, listen, or attend; the word can carry the movement from hearing into response.
“Hear ye” is more than a request to register sound: shim’u (שִׁמְעוּ, hear and respond) calls for a response to the words. The speaker is trying to direct that response toward the Assyrian king.
ALSO GROWS
shemu'ah: A report, tidings, or heard news.
שְׁמוּעָה
It shows how the root of hearing also names what reaches the ear as a report.
mishma'at: Obedience or compliance.
מִשְׁמַעַת
This branch makes visible the possible movement from hearing words to answering their demand.
וַיִּקְרָא
vayyiqra
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
To call, summon, proclaim, or name.
“called out” in this verse is vayyiqra. English “cried” can sound mainly like volume or emotion; qara (קָרָא, call or proclaim) names the act of calling out to an audience. Paired with shim’u (שִׁמְעוּ, hear and respond), the verse stages a public call seeking a responsive ear.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: A reading, proclamation, or convocation.
מִקְרָא
The branch joins calling aloud with the gathering of people to hear.
qeri'ah: A calling or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
It preserves the sense of voiced words being directed toward hearers.
THE PATTERN
A voice makes a claim on the listener by calling for hearing and response.
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.My sheep hear and respond to my voice, and I perceive them, and they follow me.So also you, unless you give through the tongue a word with a clear sign, how shall what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air.THE THREAD
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.Deuteronomy opens with shema (שְׁמַע, hear and respond), from the same root as shim’u (שִׁמְעוּ, hear and respond) here. This verse directs that responsive hearing toward the king of Assyria; Deuteronomy directs it toward the LORD.
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