What Does Amos 7:3 Mean in the King James?
The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
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 behind “repented” also forms words for comfort, revealing the LORD’s relenting as a movement that withdraws destruction.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a threatened outcome open to change: the LORD says, “It shall not be.” Divine authority here includes relenting from destruction; the announced ending does not have to be the final word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A destructive outcome, once spoken, is fixed and cannot be withdrawn.
THE ROOT
נִחַם
niḥam
GROWS FROM
נחם
n-ḥ-m
In the Niphal stem, relent or be moved with regret; in the Piel stem, comfort or console.
“repented” in this verse is niḥam. English keeps the regret-sounding surface, while Hebrew preserves a root family that also speaks of comfort and consolation. Here the Niphal form names the LORD’s relenting, and the threatened destruction is withdrawn.
ALSO GROWS
niḥam: relented; was moved with regret
נִחַם
This is the form in Amos: it names the change in the threatened outcome.
niḥēm: comforted; consoled
נִחֵם
The same root also gives language for comfort, connecting the word family with a response to distress.
menaḥem: comforter; one who consoles
מְנַחֵם
This branch shows the root family can name one who brings consolation as well as the act of relenting.
THE PATTERN
A threatened loss can be interrupted when divine compassion meets a plea or a turning.
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.THE THREAD
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.Amos and Jonah use נִחַם (niḥam, relented), from the root נחם (naḥam, relent or comfort). Jonah makes the consequence explicit: the threatened destruction is withdrawn.
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