What Does 1 Kings 12:23 Mean in the King James?
Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
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
Even the remnant is inside the word’s address: it reaches the ruler, the households, and those who remain.
THE MEANING
The word reaches the one holding authority, the households, and the people who remain; its address does not end at the ruler. Solomon’s name carries the root of wholeness while the verse names separate houses and a remnant. Wholeness stays within the address even where the people are named in parts.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that those left over are outside the word’s reach is undone here: the remnant is named as part of the audience.
THE ROOT
יֶתֶר
yeter
GROWS FROM
יתר
y-t-r
To remain over, be left, or exceed.
The word for the remnant belongs to a root that also names what remains as more or gain. Those who remain are not outside the address; they are included in its reach.
ALSO GROWS
yoter: More; remaining.
יוֹתֵר
It shows the root can describe what is still present, not only what has been discarded.
yitron: Gain, advantage, or profit.
יִתְרוֹן
This branch reveals that what remains can carry value; the remnant is still part of the people being addressed.
דַּבֵּר
dabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; the same consonants form davar, meaning word, matter, or thing.
Hebrew keeps speech and the matter called a davar within one consonantal family. The verse’s “speak” is an address with a subject and a reach: it is directed to the ruler, the houses, and the people who remain.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
The shared root holds the spoken word and the matter it carries together.
dibber: Spoke or addressed.
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form makes clear that speech reaches someone; here, the audience extends beyond the ruler.
שְׁלֹמֹה
Shelomoh
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or sound; Solomon’s name carries this root-family through shalom.
The verse names Rehoboam as Solomon’s son, placing a name tied to wholeness beside separate houses and a remnant. Wholeness remains present in the language even while the people are named in parts.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness or well-being.
שָׁלוֹם
It makes the wholeness carried in Solomon’s name audible in the verse.
shalem: Whole or complete.
שָׁלֵם
This branch echoes the possibility of wholeness within an address that includes divided groups.
THE PATTERN
A word can include every side of a division and restrain conflict before it becomes action.
And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.THE THREAD
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.The command “speak” (דַּבֵּר, dabber) and Psalm’s “word” (דָּבָר, davar) share the root דבר. Psalm presents the word as creative speech; here, speech is sent across the ruler, the houses, and the remnant, so its reach includes the whole audience.
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