What Does 1 Kings 13:11 Mean in the King James?
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
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 root behind “told” also means “count,” so the sons carry the prophet’s deeds and words as one full account.
THE MEANING
Words keep moving after the speaker has finished: someone who was not there can receive an account of both what happened and what was said. Your picture of an event is shaped by the witness and wording that reach you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A word reaches only those who hear it firsthand; here it reaches a father through his sons’ retelling.
THE ROOT
וַיְסַפְּרוּ
vayesapperu
GROWS FROM
סָפַר
s-p-r
To count, recount, or relate.
The Hebrew verb translated “told” comes from a root that also means “count,” holding narration and accounting together. The sons recount both the prophet’s deeds and his words, presenting a whole account rather than a single remembered line.
ALSO GROWS
sefer: Book, scroll, written record.
סֵפֶר
A written record preserves an account, showing how this root connects telling with what is gathered and kept.
mispar: Number, count.
מִסְפָּר
This branch makes the count-and-recount range audible beside “told”: the sons account for what the prophet did and said.
בֵּית־אֵל
Bet-El
GROWS FROM
בית
b-y-t
House, dwelling. In the name, בֵּית (bet, “house of”) joins אֵל (El, “God”) to mean “house of God.”
Beth-el carries the meaning “house of God” in the place-name itself. Alongside “dwelt,” its house-word echoes the idea of residence and makes the setting part of the verse’s wording.
ALSO GROWS
bayit: House, household.
בַּיִת
The base noun names a dwelling, carrying that sense directly into Beth-el.
bet: “House of,” the construct form of bayit.
בֵּית
This is the form used before אֵל (El, “God”) in Beth-el, making the name a phrase: “house of God.”
THE PATTERN
A witnessed deed travels beyond its moment when someone recounts it for another hearer.
And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.THE THREAD
And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.The same Hebrew root, סָפַר (saphar, “count, recount, relate”), appears when the servant tells Isaac what he has done. In both verses, deeds become an account carried into another person’s hearing.
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