What Does 1 Kings 21:17 Mean in the King James?
And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
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 for “word” can also mean “matter”: what arrives as speech is already touching the reality it names.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s word reaches you as an address, not a distant idea; it arrives close enough to be heard. You stand in the instant before its content unfolds, where the arriving word is already an event.
THE ROOT
דָּבָר
dābār
GROWS FROM
דבר
dābar: to speak or declare; דָּבָר also means a matter or thing.
In Hebrew, דָּבָר (dābār, word or matter) holds spoken language and the matter it names together. The word arriving here is more than information: its speech bears on what is about to happen.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: he spoke; he declared
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form shares the root and shows the utterance as an act of speaking.
devarim: words; matters or things
דְּבָרִים
This plural keeps speech and concrete matters within the same word-family.
וַיְהִי
wayhî
GROWS FROM
היה
hāyâ: to be, become, or happen.
The Hebrew verbal frame carries the sense of “and it was” or “and it happened” where English says the word “came.” The arrival is presented as an event taking place, not merely an idea held at a distance.
ALSO GROWS
hāyâ: he or it was; became
הָיָה
This form shares the root and names a state or change that has come to be.
yihyeh: he or it will be
יִהְיֶה
This form shares the root and points to what comes to be.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s word approaches a person before its message is spoken.
And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.THE THREAD
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?Both verses use דָּבָר (dābār, word or matter) for what reaches Elijah. The earlier arrival opens a question; this one opens a message that brings what has happened into the open.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us