What Does 2 Kings 21:10 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
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 joins “speaking” to “word” and “matter,” while the verse says that word travels by the hand of human servants.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s speech reaches you through people who serve as prophets; the Hebrew phrase behind “by his servants” literally says “by the hand of his servants.” The line pauses at “saying,” naming the speaker while leaving the message just about to arrive.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The LORD’s speech must bypass human beings to remain truly divine.
THE ROOT
וַיְדַבֵּר
vayedabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; the same root also forms a word for a word, matter, or thing.
“spake” in this verse is vayedabber. The same root gives דָּבָר (davar), “word,” “matter,” or “thing”: Hebrew holds what is said close to the matter itself. The speech here is carried through human hands, not left as a sound detached from human life.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
It binds speech to the matter being spoken, giving “spake” the weight of a declared reality.
devarim: Words or matters
דְּבָרִים
The plural keeps the same link between what is spoken and what is at stake.
עֲבָדָיו
avadav
GROWS FROM
עבד
ʿ-b-d
To work or serve.
“servants” in this verse is avadav. The prophets are named by their service: they carry a message that is not theirs to own. The verse brings speech and service together in a human channel.
ALSO GROWS
eved: Servant
עֶבֶד
It names the messenger by the role through which the message is carried.
avad: Serve or work
עָבַד
It reveals the active service beneath the title “servants.”
THE PATTERN
The LORD makes his message known through human servants who carry it to others.
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,THE THREAD
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.The Hebrew root דבר (d-b-r) appears in “my words” and “he shall speak,” the same root as “spake” here. The prophet’s mouth carries the very word the LORD places there.
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