What Does 1 Kings 12:20 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
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
A public act can make one king without gathering every allegiance behind him.
THE MEANING
The people send for Jeroboam, call him into the assembly, and make him king. Yet Judah alone remains with the house of David; David (דָּוִד, Dawid, “beloved”) carries that name’s sense. A new center of rule forms beside a continuing allegiance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that a public coronation means complete unity: Judah alone remains with David’s house even as Jeroboam is made king over Israel.
THE ROOT
וַיַּמְלִכוּ
vayyamliku
GROWS FROM
מלך
m-l-k
rule, reign; be king
“made him king” in this verse is vayyamliku. This is a causative form: the people bring Jeroboam into rule. The same root appears in king and kingdom, holding the ruler and the realm of rule together.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: king
מֶלֶךְ
The title names the person who holds the rule the people confer here.
mamlakhah: kingdom, realm
מַמְלָכָה
The root links the person made king to the wider realm whose allegiance is at stake.
וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ
vayyishleḥu
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
send forth, dispatch; in some forms, send away or release
“sent” in this verse is vayyishleḥu. The root’s range includes sending forth and, in some forms, sending away or releasing. Here the people dispatch for Jeroboam; that release shade can echo the shift in allegiance, while the verse itself leaves their motive unstated.
ALSO GROWS
shillēaḥ: send away, dismiss, release
שִׁלֵּחַ
This form shows how the same root can carry the sense of letting go; here its explicit action is sending for Jeroboam.
mishloaḥ: a sending, a dispatch
מִשְׁלוֹחַ
The noun makes sending visible as an action initiated by the people before the public appointment.
אַחֲרֵי
aḥărê
GROWS FROM
אחר
ʾ-ḥ-r
behind, after, later
The Hebrew places Judah “after” or “behind” the house of David. The KJV’s “followed” carries this positional shade: allegiance appears as standing behind a house and its continuing line of rule.
ALSO GROWS
aḥar: after, behind
אַחַר
This basic position gives the verse’s allegiance the image of being behind David’s house.
aḥaron: later, last
אַחֲרוֹן
The related sense of what comes after preserves the same idea of a trailing position.
THE PATTERN
A community gives public shape to authority when it gathers, acclaims, or appoints a leader.
And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.THE THREAD
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.Here מַמְלַכְתְּךָ (mamlakht’kha, “your kingdom”) grows from מלך (m-l-k, “rule, reign”), the same root behind “made him king” in this verse. Pairing David’s house with his kingdom shows that “house of David” reaches beyond a household to an ongoing line of rule.
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