What Does Deuteronomy 1:43 Mean in the King James?
So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
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 climb is the visible form of a refusal that begins in the ear.
THE MEANING
You can hear a clear word and still withhold your response; the verse names that refusal as rebellion. The climb that follows is not separate from the refusal but gives it direction: you move by your own certainty after hearing what was said.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that bold action after a refused word can still count as obedience; the verse names that movement presumptuous.
THE ROOT
שְׁמַעְתֶּם
shemaʿtem
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, heed, and respond.
The Hebrew verb שָׁמַע (shamaʿ, hear and respond) reaches beyond registering sound. The refusal is a withheld response, and the later ascent shows where that refusal leads.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
The root’s call to respond makes the refusal in this verse more than a failure to listen.
shemuʿah: Report, news, or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
A message can reach the hearer without becoming a response.
shomeaʿ: One who hears.
שֹׁמֵעַ
The word for a hearer points to a posture of receiving, which the verse shows being refused.
וַתָּזִדוּ
vattezidu
GROWS FROM
זוד
Boil or seethe; by extension, act presumptuously.
The root can describe boiling and, figuratively, acting presumptuously. The image adds heat and self-assertion to the ascent: this is a deliberate overreach after the refusal, not simply movement up a hill.
ALSO GROWS
nazid: A stew or boiled dish.
נָזִיד
This word preserves the root’s concrete sense of boiling.
zadon: Presumption or arrogance.
זָדוֹן
The related noun names the overreaching quality carried by the climb.
zed: A presumptuous or arrogant person.
זֵד
The root can describe both an act of presumption and the one marked by it.
וַתַּמְרוּ
vattamru
GROWS FROM
מרה
Resist, defy, or rebel.
“rebelled” in this verse is vattamru. The Hebrew phrase behind “against the commandment” is פִּי יְהוָה (pi YHWH, the mouth of the LORD). The rebellion is directed against a spoken address, so the hillward action answers that word with a contrary movement.
ALSO GROWS
meri: Rebellion or resistance.
מְרִי
This noun makes explicit the resistance contained in the verb “rebelled.”
moreh: A rebellious one.
מֹרֶה
The related form shows resistance becoming a defining quality, not merely a momentary disagreement.
THE PATTERN
In scripture, hearing reaches its meaning in the response it produces; refusing that response while acting on one’s own will is divided hearing.
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?THE THREAD
Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.This verse repeats the same pairing: וַתַּמְרוּ (vattamru, you rebelled) and שָׁמַע (shamaʿ, hear and respond, rendered “hearkened”). It makes the pattern unmistakable: the refusal to respond and the self-directed movement belong to one act.
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