What Does Judges 2:4 Mean?
And it was, when the messenger of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice and wept.
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, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.THE KEY
The verb for “lifted” also means “carry” or “bear”: the people carry what they have heard into a voice of grief.
THE MEANING
A spoken word reaches a people, and grief rises into voice and tears. The verse lets that response stand without explaining it away.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׂאוּ
vayyisʾû
GROWS FROM
נשא
nasa: to lift, carry, or bear.
“lifted up their voice” in this verse is vayyisʾû. The verb נשא (nasa, lift, carry, bear) describes the voice through an act of carrying. The people’s grief is both raised outward and borne in their shared voice.
ALSO GROWS
nōśēʾ: one who carries or bears
נֹשֵׂא
This branch names the bearer directly, bringing the root’s sense of bearing into view behind “lifted.”
nāsîʾ: prince or leader; one raised up
נָשִׂיא
This branch applies the root’s lifting sense to a person elevated as a leader, echoing the voice raised before the people.
כְּדַבֵּר
k'dabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
davar: to speak; a word, matter, or thing.
“spake / words” in this verse is k'dabber. The Hebrew uses the same root for “speaking” and “words.” English separates the act from what is spoken, while the repeated root binds the messenger’s speech to the words that draw the people’s response.
ALSO GROWS
dāvar: word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
The spoken words can also be understood as a matter with substance, not merely sound.
dibbur: speech or utterance
דִּבּוּר
This branch names the act of speaking, linking the messenger’s utterance to the words named in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Weeping brings inward grief into visible or audible expression, where it can be witnessed.
Turn aside from me, all you workers of crookedness; for the LORD hears the voice of my weeping.And he gave his voice to weeping, and Egypt heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.Jesus wept.THE THREAD
Turn aside from me, all you workers of crookedness; for the LORD hears the voice of my weeping.Judges says the people lift their voice and weep; the psalm uses the same Hebrew word, קוֹל (qol, voice), and calls it the “voice of my weeping.” It opens the scene further by showing that a weeping voice is heard by the LORD.
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