What Does 1 Kings 8:15 Mean in the King James?
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, 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
God’s mouth speaks the promise; his hand fills it to completion.
THE MEANING
The verse names God as the one whose mouth speaks and whose hand brings that word to fullness. The spoken word and the completed act belong to one movement; the promise does not remain only sound.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that God’s word can be detached from action: the same God who speaks also brings the word to completion.
THE ROOT
מִלֵּא
millēʾ
GROWS FROM
מלא
To fill or be full; here, to fill out or complete.
The verb translated “fulfilled” carries the image of filling something to fullness. The hand does not merely confirm what the mouth said; it brings the spoken word to its full measure.
ALSO GROWS
mālēʾ: To be full; full.
מָלֵא
It gives “fulfilled” the concrete sense of something reaching its fullness.
melōʾāh: Fullness; that which fills something.
מְלוֹאָהּ
This noun shows the same root describing what occupies a thing completely.
millēʾ: To fill, fulfill.
מִלֵּא
This is the verb used here: the hand fills out what the mouth has spoken.
דִּבֶּר
dibber
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak or utter.
“spake” in this verse is dibber. The same root forms דָּבָר (davar), meaning “word,” but also “matter” or “thing.” Hebrew holds speech and the matter spoken of close together; here, the mouth’s word meets the hand’s completion.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
The spoken word and the thing it concerns share the same root.
ledabber: To speak or talk.
לְדַבֵּר
This infinitive form makes the root’s basic action, speaking, visible.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; David’s name carries the nature of the beloved.
David is more than a name attached to the promise: its root carries belovedness. The word fulfilled here is spoken in relationship to the beloved father.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved one; also kinsman or uncle.
דּוֹד
This is the root word behind the name’s association with belovedness.
dōdīm: Loves or endearments.
דּוֹדִים
The plural form appears for expressions of love, extending the name’s root into affection.
THE PATTERN
What God speaks reaches fullness through the action that carries it out.
Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.THE THREAD
Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.The same Hebrew verb מלא, “fill” or “fulfill,” appears in both verses, pairing speech from the mouth with completion by the hand. Verse 24 makes the connection explicit: what is spoken is brought to fullness.
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