What Does 2 Chronicles 35:22 Mean in the King James?
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
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 decisive battle begins before Megiddo: Josiah keeps his face toward Necho while refusing a word the verse names as coming from God.
THE MEANING
God’s word reaches Josiah through Necho, and the verse identifies Necho’s words as coming from God. Josiah stays committed to the fight: he does not turn away, does not hear and respond, and continues into the valley. The verse shows that hearing is more than receiving sound; it includes whether a word can redirect the course of action.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A word from an unexpected messenger cannot carry God’s voice.
THE ROOT
שָׁמַע
shāmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed; hearing that extends into response.
English “hearkened not” can sound like a failure to catch the words, but שָׁמַע (shāmaʿ), meaning “hear and respond,” joins hearing with what follows. The words reach Josiah and are named as coming from God; what is missing is their reception in his actions.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
This imperative carries hearing toward response, clarifying what Josiah does not complete.
shemuʿah: Report, tidings; what is heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The root can name the message itself, fitting a verse where words reach Josiah through Necho’s mouth.
הֵסֵב
hēsēv
GROWS FROM
סבב
s-b-b
Turn around, go around, surround.
The first refusal is an orientation: Josiah does not turn his face away from Necho. The verse then says he does not hear the words; it places a body held toward battle beside a refusal to receive a word that could redirect him.
ALSO GROWS
sāvav: Turn, go around, surround.
סָבַב
This verb family makes the physical turning of Josiah’s face part of the verse’s pattern of direction.
sāvîv: Around, all around.
סָבִיב
The related sense of surrounding echoes how a person’s chosen direction can hold them in its orbit.
THE PATTERN
Scripture joins hearing a divine word with a response that can redirect action.
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:THE THREAD
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.The words translated “obeying” and “hearken” come from שָׁמַע (shāmaʿ), meaning “hear and respond,” the same root behind Josiah’s refusal to hear. Samuel states directly what Chronicles shows through Josiah’s actions: hearing reaches its full meaning in response.
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