What Does 1 Kings 9:9 Mean in the King James?
And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
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
Those brought out of bondage can use the same strength to fasten themselves to new masters, turning release into renewed captivity.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks to you now: even after the LORD brings you out of constriction, you can turn from that source of release and fasten to other powers, bowing and serving them. It names the consequence without hiding the violence: the LORD brings all this evil upon them. Its movement from deliverance to renewed bondage remains open in the present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that getting out of one bondage makes freedom self-sustaining: a new allegiance can become another captivity.
THE ROOT
וַיִּחַזְקוּ
vayyachazqu
GROWS FROM
חזק
חָזַק (chazaq): be strong or become firm; in causative forms, strengthen or hold fast.
“taken hold” in this verse is vayyachazqu. The verb carries the sense of becoming strong in, or holding fast to, what is grasped. The verse places that grip against the LORD who brought them out: their strength is now fastened to other gods.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: strong, firm
חָזָק
The same root links their act of taking hold with strength and firmness.
chizzeq: strengthen, make firm
חִזֵּק
This branch makes the root’s force clear: what they grasp becomes the place where their strength is invested.
הוֹצִיא
hotsi
GROWS FROM
יצא
יָצָא (yatsa): go out or come out; in the causative form, bring out.
“brought forth” in this verse is hotsi. This root names the movement the verse remembers: the LORD causes people to go out. Their departure from Mitzrayim’s constriction comes before their later grasping, so the crisis is a reversal of release already opened.
ALSO GROWS
yatsa: go out, come out
יָצָא
This is the basic movement that the verse’s causative form makes happen for others.
yetzi'ah: going out, departure
יְצִיאָה
The shared root keeps the remembered bringing-out connected to the act of leaving constriction.
וַיַּעַבְדֻם
vayya'avdum
GROWS FROM
עבד
עָבַד (avad): work, labor, serve.
“served” in this verse is vayya'avdum. The bowing in the verse does not remain a gesture: service is labor and allegiance given over time. The same root names both serving and the servant, showing how the gods they bow to become powers they work for.
ALSO GROWS
eved: servant
עֶבֶד
The root names the one whose life is given to service, connecting the act of serving these gods to a relation of belonging.
avodah: work, service
עֲבוֹדָה
This branch makes the ongoing labor within “served them” visible.
THE PATTERN
Release from one bondage can be reversed when a person fastens to another power and gives it service.
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.THE THREAD
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.“Held them fast” uses חָזַק (chazaq, strengthen or hold fast), the same root as “taken hold” here; “let them go” renders שָׁלַח (shalach, release or send forth). The connection exposes the hard edge of grasping: what is held can become captivity, and release is its opposite.
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