What Does 1 Kings 20:11 Mean in the King James?
And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
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 same Hebrew root can mean praise or boast, and this verse shows self-praise claiming victory before the struggle is over.
THE MEANING
You may be equipped for what lies ahead, but equipment is not an outcome. The work is still being entered, while the one taking off the armor stands at its far side. The distance between those moments remains open.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie it undoes is that readiness proves victory; preparation and completion are different moments.
THE ROOT
יִתְהַלֵּל
yit·hal·lel
GROWS FROM
הלל
H-L-L
To praise or boast; to make much of.
“boast himself” in this verse is yit·hal·lel. The verb for boasting grows from the same root as words for praise. Here, self-praise speaks while the armor is still on, before the outcome can be known.
ALSO GROWS
hallel: Praise; celebrate.
הַלֵּל
This branch shows that praise and boasting share a Hebrew root; the verse turns that praise toward oneself before the struggle is finished.
tehillah: Praise; a song of praise.
תְּהִלָּה
This related word keeps the root’s language of praise in view, making the verse’s premature self-praise sharper.
THE PATTERN
An unfinished struggle cannot be praised as though its outcome has already been reached.
Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.THE THREAD
Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.Both verses use a form of הלל (H-L-L), the root of praise and boasting. Proverbs makes the timing explicit: self-praise reaches beyond the present into an outcome that has not yet arrived.
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