What Does 1 Kings 8:52 Mean in the King James?
That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.
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 prayer asks for more than a glance: it pictures God’s eyes held open toward the petition, and hearing turned toward response.
THE MEANING
Your appeal is pictured as held before God’s open attention. The servant’s petition and the people’s are named side by side, so solitary and shared need occupy the same field. Hearing is directed toward the calls made to God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a plea sits outside God’s attention until an answer appears: the petition itself is already before open eyes.
THE ROOT
פְּתוּחוֹת
pĕtūḥōt
GROWS FROM
פתח
p-t-ḥ
open; make an opening
The word pictures eyes in an open state toward the petitions. The same root gives both the act of opening and a doorway, so the verse’s image holds attention and access together.
ALSO GROWS
pātaḥ: to open
פָּתַח
This is the verb behind the open eyes: the attention is pictured as opened toward the petition.
petaḥ: opening; doorway
פֶּתַח
This branch makes the root’s openness concrete: the petition is met with an image of access, not a closed way.
תְּחִנַּת
teḥinnat
GROWS FROM
חנן
ḥ-n-n
show favor; be gracious
The word for supplication grows from the root of showing favor, giving the petition the shade of a plea for favor. The same seed names both the appeal and the favor it seeks.
ALSO GROWS
ḥen: favor
חֵן
This branch makes the favor inside the supplication word visible.
ḥānan: to show favor; to be gracious
חָנַן
This verb shows the action carried by the root from which the petition word grows.
לִשְׁמֹעַ
lishmōaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
hear; listen
“hearken” in this verse is lishmōaʿ. The verse moves from petitions before open eyes to hearing that attends to the people’s calls. In this context, hearing carries the sense of listening toward response, not sound merely reaching an ear.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: hear and respond
שְׁמַע
This familiar form holds hearing together with the response sought in the prayer.
shemiʿah: hearing
שְׁמִיעָה
This noun names the hearing requested for the servant and the people.
shemuʿah: report; news
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch is what is heard and carried onward, echoing the calls brought before God.
THE PATTERN
Prayer is pictured as meeting attentive presence, where a call is heard and answered.
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:THE THREAD
But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.Psalm 4:3 uses the same root שמע (shamaʿ, hear) and places it beside קָרָא (qaraʾ, call): the call is met by hearing. That condenses 1 Kings’ movement from open attention to hearing the people’s calls into one line.
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