What Does 1 Kings 12:6 Mean in the King James?
And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
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 Hebrew word for seeking advice is the same root as the word for giving it, so Rehoboam’s answer is already taking shape in the counsel he seeks.
THE MEANING
Your answer is already being shaped by the counsel you seek before you speak. The verse holds the pause before a reply, where the voices you turn toward become part of the answer that reaches others.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that an answer belongs to the speaker alone, untouched by the counsel that comes before it.
THE ROOT
וַיִּוָּעַץ
wayyivvaʿats
GROWS FROM
י־ע־ץ
y-ʿ-ṣ
to counsel, advise, or deliberate
“consulted / advise” in this verse is wayyivvaʿats. The KJV uses two English verbs, but the Hebrew repeats one root: וַיִּוָּעַץ (wayyivvaʿats, he consulted) and נוֹעָצִים (noʿatsim, advising) are forms of י־ע־ץ (y-ʿ-ṣ, to counsel). Seeking counsel and asking what to advise are one motion in the verse: consultation is already part of the answer taking form.
ALSO GROWS
ʿetsah: Advice or counsel
עֵצָה
The noun makes visible what Rehoboam seeks: counsel is the substance moving between the one who asks and those who advise.
yoʿets: One who gives counsel
יוֹעֵץ
This branch names the role of the elders: their counsel enters the answer before Rehoboam speaks to the people.
THE PATTERN
A response gains direction from the counsel a person or community takes in before deciding.
Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.THE THREAD
Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.The Hebrew verb behind Rehoboam’s “consulted” and “advise” shares its root with עֵצָה (ʿetsah, counsel) in Proverbs. The same seed appears as a noun here: purposes take shape through the counsel gathered around them.
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