What Does Deuteronomy 13:12 Mean in the King James?
If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, 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 verse opens with a report reaching your ears, but leaves its claim unconfirmed.
THE MEANING
A report can reach you about a whole community and the place it inhabits. Here you stand at the moment of hearing: the words have arrived, while their truth and what follows remain unstated. The verse keeps the report and the finding distinct.
THE ROOT
תִּשְׁמַע
tishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear, listen, or heed; the context determines whether a response is implied.
The Hebrew says tishmaʿ … lemor: you hear … saying. The ear receives the message, while the saying supplies its content; a related form, shemuah, means report or news, so the verse begins with news arriving while leaving its truth unstated.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear or listen; when a response is implied, hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
It shows how hearing can include a response, though this verse names the reception of a report without yet stating what response follows.
shemuah: A report or news; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This related word makes the link between hearing and reported news visible in the verse’s opening.
THE PATTERN
Hearing begins discernment; it does not complete it.
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.THE THREAD
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.The word translated “heareth” in Proverbs comes from שמע (shama), the same root as the hearing that opens Deuteronomy 13:12. Together, the verses distinguish a message reaching you from answering as though the matter were already settled.
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