What Does 1 Kings 10:24 Mean in the King James?
And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
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 world seeks Solomon’s face to hear wisdom God has placed within him: what draws people outward begins as a gift received inwardly.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you in the same movement: what others can hear from you begins as something God places within your heart. Wisdom is not merely information to collect; it is an inwardly received capacity that becomes audible in encounter.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that wisdom is made through performance alone: the verse locates its source in what God places within.
THE ROOT
מְבַקְשִׁים
mevaqqeshim
GROWS FROM
בקש
b-q-sh
To seek, search, or request.
“sought” in this verse is mevaqqeshim. The Hebrew phrase seeks Solomon’s face, making this a pursuit of his presence as well as of what he can say. The verb draws the listener into encounter: people seek him in order to hear.
ALSO GROWS
biqqēsh: sought, searched for, requested
בִּקֵּשׁ
The verb’s range joins searching with asking, showing the earth’s interest as an active pursuit.
mevuqqash: sought after, desired
מְבֻקָּשׁ
This branch describes what draws people toward Solomon: his wisdom is desired enough to bring them seeking his presence.
חָכְמָתוֹ
ḥokhmātō
GROWS FROM
חכם
ḥ-k-m
To be wise or skillful; to act with discernment and competence.
This word’s family includes both the wise person and skillful work, so wisdom is more than accumulated information: it is practiced capacity. Here that capacity is located in the heart and becomes something others can hear.
ALSO GROWS
ḥākām: wise, skillful person
חָכָם
Wisdom names a quality embodied in a person, not only a collection of sayings.
ḥakhmê-lēḇ: wise-hearted, skillful people
חַכְמֵי־לֵב
This phrase is used for skilled artisans; it links wisdom with capable work and illuminates why wisdom can be held in the heart.
נָתַן
nātan
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“put” in this verse is nātan. The verb can mean both giving and placing, so the wisdom is not only given to Solomon but set within his heart. What people hear outwardly is presented as a gift received inwardly.
ALSO GROWS
nātan: to give, set, place
נָתַן
This is the verb used for what God does with the wisdom: God gives it into the heart.
mattānāh: gift
מַתָּנָה
This related noun makes explicit the gift-like character of wisdom placed within.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom becomes hearable in the world when it is received as God’s gift within a person.
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.THE THREAD
Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.The Hebrew חָכָם (ḥākām, “wise”) shares the חכם (ḥ-k-m, “be wise or skillful”) root with “wisdom” in this verse. This earlier line makes the inward gift explicit: God gives a wise heart, and the world later seeks to hear what that heart holds.
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