What Does 2 Kings 13:4 Mean in the King James?
And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
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 hearing is tied to seeing: he responds to Jehoahaz while seeing the pressure bearing down on Israel.
THE MEANING
When you cry under pressure, the verse presents the LORD as hearing you and seeing what bears down on you. Your distress is visible within his hearing; his response takes in the cause of the cry as well as the cry itself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the fear that no one sees the pressure beneath your plea: the LORD hears while seeing the force that bears down on you.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁמַע
wayyishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שׁמע
To hear, listen, and attend; here, to hear responsively.
“hearkened” in this verse is wayyishmaʿ. The verb shares its root with שְׁמַע (shemaʿ, “hear and respond”), the opening word of Israel’s central call. It also gives שְׁמוּעָה (shemuʿah, “report, what is heard”): here, the cry reaches the LORD as something received and answered.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The same root appears in Deuteronomy 6:4, where hearing is attentive reception that calls for response.
shemuʿah: Report, news; what is heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch names what has reached someone’s hearing; here, the LORD receives Jehoahaz’s plea and sees the pressure behind it.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s response joins hearing a cry with seeing the pressure that produced it.
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 eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.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;Both verses use שָׁמַע (shamaʿ, “hear, heed”) and pair hearing with seeing oppression or affliction. That shared wording opens “hearkened” as attentive response to the very pressure behind the plea.
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