What Does 1 Kings 8:43 Mean in the King James?
Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
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 same Hebrew root marks both the stranger calling to God and the house being called by God’s name, making the house a doorway through which the nations recognize God’s nature.
THE MEANING
God hears the stranger from heaven, acts on the stranger’s appeal, and makes divine nature recognizable across the earth. The house carries God’s name as a sign of that nature, while awe spreads beyond Israel. The stranger’s call becomes a way for the nations to recognize who God is.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that outsiders are beyond God’s hearing: the stranger’s appeal is included, and the purpose reaches every people.
THE ROOT
יִקְרָא
yiqraʾ
GROWS FROM
קרא
Call, summon, or proclaim; in a passive form, be called or named.
“calleth / is called” in this verse is yiqraʾ. The stranger’s “calleth” and the house being “called” both carry קרא (qaraʾ, to call or proclaim), tying an outsider’s voice to the public naming of God’s house. The house’s שֵׁם (shem, name as nature) becomes recognizable through the response to that call.
ALSO GROWS
miqraʾ: Convocation, assembly, or reading.
מִקְרָא
Its sense of calling people together echoes the verse’s movement from one stranger’s appeal toward recognition among all peoples.
qeriʾah: Calling, proclamation, or reading.
קְרִיאָה
This branch keeps the spoken summons in view: the stranger calls, and the house is publicly named.
יֵדְעוּן
yēdeʿūn
GROWS FROM
ידע
Know, recognize, or perceive through encounter.
Yada reaches beyond collecting facts to recognizing through encounter. Here, all the earth comes to know God’s name as God’s nature becomes visible in the answer to the stranger.
ALSO GROWS
daʿat: Knowledge or understanding.
דַּעַת
This noun grows from the same root and points to recognition that has taken hold, not mere exposure to a name.
maddaʿ: Knowledge or learning.
מַדָּע
Its connection to yada keeps learning joined to the act of knowing; the verse’s knowing comes through what God does.
לְיִרְאָה
leyirʾah
GROWS FROM
ירא
Fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“fear” in this verse is leyirʾah. Because God is the one feared, yirʾah carries the sense of awe. The verse presents awe as arising when the nations recognize God’s nature, just as Israel does.
ALSO GROWS
yirʾah: Awe, reverence, or fear.
יִרְאָה
This noun names the response the verse associates with knowing God’s name.
moraʾ: Dread or awe.
מוֹרָא
This related form shows the weight of the response when the object is God.
THE PATTERN
A house bearing God’s name becomes a public doorway where outsiders can approach and all peoples can recognize God’s nature.
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.THE THREAD
Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.Isaiah pairs the same Hebrew root yada (ידע, to know through encounter) with God’s name, showing that knowing the name means recognizing the one revealed. Here that recognition extends to all the earth through the stranger’s answered call.
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