What Does 1 Chronicles 16:4 Mean in the King James?
And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verb translated “record” also means “make mention”: the verse links keeping memory alive with voicing thanks and praise.
THE MEANING
The verse holds three acts together: remembering, giving thanks, and praising the LORD. Remembrance is active here; what is recalled becomes spoken thanksgiving and praise in God’s presence. The reader encounters worship as a way of keeping God’s deeds present now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the idea that praise has to begin as a feeling: here remembrance is deliberately voiced as thanks and praise.
THE ROOT
וּלְהַזְכִּיר
u-lehazkir
GROWS FROM
זכר
z-k-r
Remember, call to mind, or mention.
The verb translated “record” is a causative form: to make mention, bringing remembrance into speech. Remembering is more than inward recall here; it becomes voiced memory that flows into thanks and praise.
ALSO GROWS
zakhar: To remember or call to mind.
זָכַר
This basic verb shows the seed beneath “to record”: the work begins with keeping something present in memory.
zikaron: Remembrance or memorial.
זִכָּרוֹן
A memorial makes remembrance endure; this branch reveals how spoken mention can carry memory forward.
zekher: Remembrance or mention.
זֵכֶר
This noun connects the act of making mention with the memory it keeps present.
וּלְהוֹדוֹת
u-lehodot
GROWS FROM
ידה
y-d-h
Give thanks, acknowledge, or praise.
“thank” in this verse is u-lehodot. The verb carries the sense of acknowledging what is given, not merely feeling grateful. The same root appears in Judah’s name, joining thanksgiving with praise as spoken recognition.
ALSO GROWS
todah: Thanksgiving, praise, or a thanksgiving offering.
תּוֹדָה
This noun from the same root names thanksgiving itself, giving the verse’s thanks the shape of an expressed acknowledgment.
Yehudah: Judah; a name associated with praise.
יְהוּדָה
The name is linked to the declaration “I will praise the LORD” in Genesis 29:35, joining a person’s name to the act of praise.
לְהַלֵּל
lehallel
GROWS FROM
הלל
h-l-l
Praise or celebrate.
Praise is not an isolated final act: it follows remembrance and thanksgiving in the verse. Its branches show how this root names both praise itself and the shared words that voice it.
ALSO GROWS
tehillah: Praise or a song of praise.
תְּהִלָּה
This branch gives praise a voiced form, matching the verse’s movement from remembering to public expression.
halelu-yah: Praise Yah.
הַלְלוּיָהּ
This familiar call to praise carries the same root into a direct declaration addressed to the LORD.
THE PATTERN
Praise keeps God’s deeds present by turning remembrance into shared speech of thanksgiving.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.THE THREAD
He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.The “remembered” in Psalm 111:4 comes from זכר (z-k-r; zakhar, “remember” or “mention”), the same root behind “to record” here. The Levites’ work of making mention gives voice to the remembrance named in the psalm.
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