What Does 1 Kings 21:27 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
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
Here, hearing carries into response: the word reaches Ahab so fully that it changes what he wears, eats, and how he walks.
THE MEANING
A hard word reaches beyond thought here: Ahab’s clothing, food, and pace all change. His response becomes bodily and visible, while the judgment itself remains severe. The verse shows hearing reaching the whole person.
THE ROOT
שָׁמַע
shama
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear or listen; in context, hearing that moves into response.
“heard” in this verse is shama. English can make hearing sound like simply receiving information. Here the same word is followed by action, showing hearing as something that reaches the listener’s whole posture.
ALSO GROWS
shama: Hear, listen, and respond.
שָׁמַע
The verse uses this verb for Ahab hearing the words, then shows his response in his actions.
shemuʿah: A report or news, what is heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The judgment arrives as words to be heard, and its weight shows in Ahab’s changed conduct.
בְּשָׂרוֹ
besarō
GROWS FROM
בשר
b-ś-r
Flesh or body; the same consonants also form a verb meaning to announce or bring news.
The consonants that name flesh also form the verb for announcing. That echo makes the verse’s movement from heard words to altered flesh especially vivid: sackcloth touches his body, and fasting changes what it receives.
ALSO GROWS
basar: Flesh, body.
בָּשָׂר
Ahab puts sackcloth directly against his flesh; the response to the words is carried on the body.
bisser: Announce or bring news.
בִּשֵּׂר
This related form echoes the movement from words arriving as news to the bodily response that follows.
THE PATTERN
A hard word can be received through a visible lowering of the body and the letting go of ordinary comforts.
Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.THE THREAD
Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.The word שָׁמַע (shama, hear and respond) appears in both verses. Chronicles makes the link explicit: hearing the words is joined to humility and torn clothing, revealing the shape of the response shown here.
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