What Does 1 Kings 20:36 Mean in the King James?
Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
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 behind “obeyed” means “hear,” so the verse presents the fatal failure as refusing to answer the LORD’s voice.
THE MEANING
The scene speaks with brutal immediacy: refusing the LORD’s voice is followed by a lion’s attack and death. The consequence is bodily, and the verse leaves the violence exposed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that disregarding the LORD’s voice is consequence-free: here, the refusal is followed by lethal harm.
THE ROOT
שָׁמַעְתָּ
shamata
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, listen, attend; in context, heed or respond.
The verb translated “obeyed” is literally about hearing or listening. In this verse, hearing the LORD’s voice includes answering it; the failure is not just missing a sound but refusing its claim on action.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The familiar imperative holds hearing and response together, illuminating why the verse treats listening as an answerable act.
shomea: One who hears or listens.
שֹׁמֵעַ
This form names a hearer by the act of listening; the verse shows that such hearing has consequences when the voice is refused.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s voice presses toward response; hearing is shown by the action that follows.
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:THE THREAD
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:The same Hebrew hearing verb and word for “voice” bind the two verses: refusing to hear the LORD’s voice is followed by consequence. Here, that consequence arrives as a lion’s immediate attack; Deuteronomy names the same structure more broadly.
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