What Does 1 Kings 20:8 Mean in the King James?
And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
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
A demand does not gain your consent merely by being spoken: the verse names hearing and willingness as separate gates.
THE MEANING
A demand can reach your attention without becoming your will. The verse names two separate refusals: not heeding the speaker and not consenting to what is asked. The elders and all the people voice that boundary together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A forceful demand does not make agreement inevitable; hearing someone and consenting to them are distinct acts.
THE ROOT
תִּשְׁמַע
tishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
hear, listen, heed, respond
“Hearken” in this verse is tishmaʿ. The verse does not use one act for both listening and agreement: it first rejects heeding, then rejects willingness. The root can carry the sense of responsive hearing, so the first refusal concerns what receives the speaker’s claim, not merely sound entering the ear.
ALSO GROWS
shamaʿ: hear, listen, heed
שָׁמַע
This verb names the act the elders and people refuse: giving the speaker their responsive attention.
shemuʿah: report, news, what is heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This noun names a message as something received; the refusal begins with whether the speaker’s demand will be taken in.
תֹּאבֶה
tōʾbeh
GROWS FROM
אבה
be willing, desire, consent
The root describes willingness, the inward yes beneath the English word consent. The counsel is not only to refuse outwardly; it is to withhold willingness from what is being asked.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāvâ: be willing, consent, desire
אָבָה
This is the root verb: consent is framed as becoming willing, not merely hearing a proposal.
tōʾbeh: you are willing, you consent
תֹּאבֶה
This is the form used in the verse, making willingness itself the second thing the elders and people refuse.
THE PATTERN
Consent remains a distinct choice, even when a demand comes with pressure or authority.
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.THE THREAD
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:The opening word is שְׁמַע (shemaʿ, “hear and respond”), from the same שמע root as “hearken” here. One verse calls for that hearing; the other shows it withheld, revealing that listening is itself a response rather than neutral sound.
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