What Does 1 Kings 14:9 Mean in the King James?
But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
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 verse pictures idolatry as a deliberate exchange: a person pours a substitute into shape, then throws God behind their back.
THE MEANING
The verse names a severe measure of evil: making rival gods and cast images exceeds what came before. The act is deliberate, these forms are made to provoke, while God is thrown behind the back. The anger stays explicit and unsoftened.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that a rival devotion can be added without displacing God. Here the rival images provoke, while God is cast out of view.
THE ROOT
הִשְׁלַכְתָּ
hishlakhta
GROWS FROM
שׁלך
to throw, cast
“cast behind thy back” in this verse is hishlakhta. The Hebrew verb is shalak, “throw” or “cast”: the image is not merely losing sight of God but deliberately flinging him out of view. This is distinct from shalach (שלח, “send” or “release”); the similar sound does not make them the same root.
ALSO GROWS
hishlikh: to throw, cast away
הִשְׁלִיךְ
This verb form carries the same force as the verse: God is treated as someone deliberately discarded.
mushlakh: thrown, cast away
מֻשְׁלָךְ
This passive form keeps attention on what has been expelled, making the rejection concrete.
מַסֵּכוֹת
massekhot
GROWS FROM
נסך
to pour out; to pour or cast metal
“molten images” in this verse is massekhot. The word keeps the making visible: a molten image is something poured into a shape. The same root names a poured libation, showing how a human-formed object can become a rival focus of devotion.
ALSO GROWS
nasakh: to pour out
נָסַךְ
This is the action embedded in the image’s name: the substitute takes shape through deliberate pouring.
nesekh: a poured drink offering, or libation
נֶסֶךְ
The shared root links a poured object with a poured offering, exposing the devotion attached to what is made.
לְהַכְעִיסֵנִי
lehak'iseni
GROWS FROM
כעס
to be angry, vexed
“provoke me to anger” in this verse is lehak'iseni. The phrase names anger directly, not a neutral difference in preference. The rival objects are made to provoke, while God is cast behind the speaker’s back.
ALSO GROWS
ka'as: anger, vexation
כַּעַס
The noun makes the emotional force of the root explicit in the verse’s accusation.
makh'is: one who provokes; provoking
מַכְעִיס
This form highlights the deliberate effect of making rival objects: they provoke anger.
THE PATTERN
A made rival does not leave devotion neutral: turning toward what human hands form turns the living God out of view.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.THE THREAD
Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.The same verb, שׁלך (shalak, “cast”), appears in both: here God is cast behind the back; there his words are cast behind. The echo shows that pushing the giver out of view and discarding what he says belong to the same movement.
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