What Does 2 Kings 1:14 Mean in the King James?
Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
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 captain asks that his whole living self be held as precious in the very sight before which fire has just consumed others.
THE MEANING
You stand with the captain as fire comes down and burns the two captains and their fifties; he asks Elijah to regard his life as precious. His plea holds terror and the worth of one life in the same moment, without softening what has happened to the others.
THE ROOT
תִּיקַר
tiqqar
GROWS FROM
י־ק־ר
y-q-r
To be precious, costly, rare, or highly valued.
The root behind “precious” carries the sense of something costly or highly valued. The captain’s plea is about how his life is reckoned in another’s eyes, not only whether it continues.
ALSO GROWS
yāqār: Precious, costly, valuable.
יָקָר
Psalm 116:15 uses this form for a death precious in the LORD’s sight, showing that the word can hold value even in the face of death.
yāqarta: You were precious, valued.
יָקַרְתָּ
Isaiah 43:4 uses the same root with “in my sight,” echoing the captain’s appeal to be valued in Elijah’s sight.
נַפְשִׁי
nafshi
GROWS FROM
נ־פ־ש
n-p-sh
The living self: a person as a whole living soul, with appetite or longing also expressed through this word.
“my life” in this verse is nafshi. The word translated “life” can name a living being and can also appear where that being’s longing is foregrounded. The plea is for the living self itself, which makes the request personal and exposed.
ALSO GROWS
nephesh chayyah: Living soul, living being.
נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
Genesis 2:7 uses this phrase for the living being, showing that this word can name the whole creature, not merely an abstract span of life.
nephesh: Soul in longing; appetite or desire in context.
נֶפֶשׁ
Psalm 107:9 uses the same noun in “the longing soul,” bringing the wanting, feeling self into view alongside the living self at risk here.
THE PATTERN
A living being’s value is named even where death or violence is near.
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.THE THREAD
And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.The same roots meet here: one names the living self, and the other says it is precious in another’s eyes. The verse turns the plea from one person’s sight toward the LORD’s, while keeping the same measure of worth.
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