What Does 2 Kings 4:31 Mean in the King James?
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
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 silence is total in three distinct ways: no sound, no attentive response, and no waking.
THE MEANING
You are shown an intervention reaching the child, yet eliciting nothing: no voice, no heedful response, no waking. The outcome remains absent in the report, even with the staff placed upon the child’s face.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A commanded act or object guarantees the awakening it is meant to bring.
THE ROOT
הֵקִיץ
hēqîṣ
GROWS FROM
קיץ
q-y-ts
to wake, awaken
English “awaked” can sound like a status label; the Hebrew verb names the event of waking itself. Daniel uses the same root for sleepers in the dust who awake, so this verse reports the absence of that event.
ALSO GROWS
yāqîṣû: They awaken from sleep.
יָקִיצוּ
Daniel 12:2 uses this form for sleepers in the dust, making “not awaked” here the explicit absence of waking.
bə-hāqîṣ: At waking; when awake.
בְּהָקִיץ
Psalm 17:15 uses the same root for waking, showing the word names an event that can be present or absent.
קָשֶׁב
qāšeb
GROWS FROM
קשב
q-sh-b
to attend, heed, listen closely
Here “hearing” is paired with “voice,” but the Hebrew word points to attentive heeding, not only sound entering an ear. The verse therefore reports both a missing sound and a missing response.
ALSO GROWS
haqshîvû: Listen attentively; heed.
הַקְשִׁיבוּ
In Proverbs 4:1, this form asks the hearer to give focused attention, showing the active response contained in the word.
haqshîvî: Listen closely; attend.
הַקְשִׁיבִי
Micah 1:2 addresses the earth with this form, again treating hearing as attentive reception.
THE PATTERN
Returning life becomes visible through a response, revival, movement, or opened eyes.
Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.THE THREAD
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.Both verses use קיץ (q-y-ts, to wake or awaken): here the child has not awakened; there, sleepers in the dust awake. The same root spans absent waking and waking from the dust.
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