What Does 1 Kings 8:57 Mean in the King James?
The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
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 verb holds together the presence remembered from the past and the presence asked for now.
THE MEANING
This prayer places your present need beside the remembered presence of God with the fathers: the one who was with them is asked to be with you now. Its paired pleas name the fear of being left and cast off without hiding the vulnerability in the request.
THE ROOT
יְהִי
yehi
GROWS FROM
היה
hayah
to be, become, come to pass
“be” in this verse is yehi. The prayer uses the same verb for what God was with the fathers and what is asked now. English separates the remembered past from the present plea, while Hebrew holds them under one root.
ALSO GROWS
yehi: let him be
יְהִי
This is the prayer for God’s presence with the people now.
hayah: he was
הָיָה
This names the remembered presence with the fathers, using the same verb as the present request.
יַעַזְבֵנוּ
ya'azvenu
GROWS FROM
עזב
azav
to leave, abandon, forsake
“leave” in this verse is ya'azvenu. The prayer asks that the people not become the object of abandonment. This root can also describe a forsaken state, giving the plea a relational consequence beyond simply going away.
ALSO GROWS
azuvah: forsaken, abandoned
עֲזוּבָה
This form shows abandonment as a condition someone can bear, the state the prayer asks to be spared.
ya'azvekha: he will leave you
יַעַזְבֶךָ
This form appears in the assurance that God will not leave, echoing the same root in the verse’s plea.
יִטְּשֵׁנוּ
yitteshenu
GROWS FROM
נטש
natash
to leave, abandon
“forsake” in this verse is yitteshenu. This is a second verb with a different root from “leave,” so the plea names abandonment twice in distinct words. The English near-synonyms preserve the emphasis; the Hebrew also shows that the two pleas do not come from the same seed.
ALSO GROWS
natash: to leave, abandon
נָטַשׁ
The base verb makes clear that the plea concerns being left behind.
natashti: I have left, I have abandoned
נָטַשְׁתִּי
This first-person form shows the same root describing the act of abandonment.
THE PATTERN
Remembered presence is carried into present need, while the fear of abandonment is spoken plainly.
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.THE THREAD
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.Deuteronomy pairs God’s going with the people with the assurance that he will not abandon them. Its word for “forsake” is עזב (azav), meaning “to leave” or “abandon,” the same root behind “leave us” in this prayer.
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