What Does 2 Chronicles 33:10 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.
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 LORD’s word reaches them, but being addressed is not the same as attending: they refuse to listen.
THE MEANING
A voice can be present while the heart stays closed to it. This verse names a gap that still exists now: hearing words does not automatically mean receiving them; attention can be withheld.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that hearing a message means you have truly listened.
THE ROOT
הִקְשִׁיבוּ
hiqshivu
GROWS FROM
קשב
Attend closely; listen with focused attention.
“hearken” in this verse is hiqshivu. The Hebrew carries the sense of attending, not merely having sound reach the ear. The verse describes a refusal to give attention to the words spoken.
ALSO GROWS
hiqshiv: Attend or listen closely.
הִקְשִׁיב
The verb names the focused attention withheld here.
maqshiv: One who listens attentively.
מַקְשִׁיב
This related form makes listening an orientation of attention, not just exposure to words.
מְנַשֶּׁה
Mᵊnaššeh
GROWS FROM
נשה
Forget; cause to forget.
Manasseh’s name echoes the language of forgetting: Joseph says, “God hath made me forget” when explaining it in Genesis 41:51. Here, the one whose name carries that echo is directly addressed, while the people refuse to attend.
ALSO GROWS
nashani: He has made me forget.
נַשָּׁנִי
This is Joseph’s wording in Genesis 41:51, the verse that explains the name Manasseh.
Mᵊnaššeh: Manasseh; a name associated with causing forgetfulness.
מְנַשֶּׁה
The name brings the forgetting root into the verse’s scene of speech met with refusal to listen.
וַיְדַבֵּר
vayedabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
Speak; word, matter, or thing.
“spake” in this verse is vayedabber. The same root appears as the verb “spoke” and as דָּבָר (davar), “word” or “matter.” The verse holds speech and its content together, then sets that spoken word against the people’s refusal to attend.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
The noun shows the root’s reach from speaking to the word or matter spoken.
dibber: He spoke.
דִּבֵּר
This verb form shares the root of davar and names the LORD’s speech in the verse.
THE PATTERN
A message can be spoken clearly and still go unreceived when its hearers refuse to attend.
And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:The Hebrew verb translated “cause thine ear to hear” comes from the same root, קשב (qashav), as “hearken” here. In Chronicles, the people refuse to attend to the LORD; in this psalm, the LORD attends to the humble.
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