What Does 1 Samuel 31:11 Mean in the King James?
And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;
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 Hebrew root behind “heard” also gives “report,” so the news of Saul’s suffering is already poised to become a response.
THE MEANING
When a report of violence reaches you, hearing makes another person’s suffering present rather than distant. This verse holds the moment before response; in the next verse, the people rise and travel through the night to bring Saul and his sons down. Here, hearing carries the possibility of becoming action.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that hearing about harm is only receiving information gives way as the next verse shows this hearing becoming action.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ
vayishme'u
GROWS FROM
שׁמע
shama
Hear, listen, heed; hearing that is open to response.
“heard” in this verse is vayishme'u. The root שׁמע (shama, “hear, listen, respond”) holds more than sound received. Its branch שְׁמוּעָה (shemu’ah, “report, tidings”) names the news itself from the same root, and the next verse shows the people’s hearing taking shape in action.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; listen and respond.
שְׁמַע
This imperative shows that hearing can carry the sense of heeding, illuminating how the people’s reception of the report opens toward action.
shemu'ah: Report, tidings, news.
שְׁמוּעָה
The news and the act of hearing it share the same root, bringing the report of violence close to the people who receive it.
THE PATTERN
When suffering is truly heard, the report moves toward concrete response.
All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?THE THREAD
And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;The Hebrew verb for “heard” here comes from שׁמע (shama, “hear, listen, respond”), the same root used when the LORD says he has heard the people’s cry. Exodus joins hearing with knowing their pain, then the next verse moves toward deliverance; 1 Samuel likewise lets hearing open into action.
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