What Does Deuteronomy 17:4 Mean in the King James?
And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
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
Even an abhorrent charge does not prove itself: this verse makes diligent inquiry the threshold by which a claim becomes established.
THE MEANING
A report reaches you, and you hear it; the verse then puts the claim through deliberate inquiry before it can stand as true. The charged act may be called an abomination, yet the label does not itself establish that it happened; the matter must be found true and certain. The verse locates you in the space between hearing a claim and knowing what is so.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A report repeated with certainty is not proof; the claim still has to withstand inquiry.
THE ROOT
וְדָרַשְׁתָּ הֵיטֵב
vedarashta heitev
GROWS FROM
דרש
darash
To seek, inquire, or investigate.
“enquired diligently” in this verse is vedarashta heitev. The phrase joins דָּרַשׁ (darash, “seek or inquire”) with הֵיטֵב (heitev, “thoroughly”), giving the search deliberate depth. The claim is not accepted on the strength of hearing alone; the verse places active seeking between report and certainty.
ALSO GROWS
midrash: Inquiry, interpretation, or exposition.
מִדְרָשׁ
This branch keeps the sense of seeking beneath careful interpretation: understanding comes through examination.
derishah: An inquiry or a seeking.
דְּרִישָׁה
This noun makes the search itself visible as a distinct step before a conclusion is reached.
אֱמֶת
emet
GROWS FROM
אמן
ʾaman
To be firm, steady, or reliable.
“true” in this verse is emet. אֱמֶת (emet, “truth”) belongs to the root אמן (ʾaman, “be firm or reliable”). Beside נָכוֹן (nakhon, “established”), it presents truth as something that stands after examination, not merely a convincing report.
ALSO GROWS
ʾamen: Truly; firm or reliable; so it is.
אָמֵן
The familiar word carries the same sense of firmness that underlies the verse’s claim of truth.
neʾeman: Reliable, trustworthy, or steady.
נֶאֱמָן
This branch shows truth as dependability, the quality of a claim that can bear weight.
נָכוֹן
nakhon
GROWS FROM
כון
kun
To be established, prepared, or made firm.
“certain” in this verse is nakhon. נָכוֹן (nakhon, “established”) comes from כון (kun, “be established or prepared”). It makes the verse’s second confirmation concrete: after inquiry, the matter is described as standing in place, not resting on suspicion.
ALSO GROWS
hekin: To prepare or set in place.
הֵכִין
This branch shows the root’s movement toward something made ready and established.
makhon: A fixed place, foundation, or dwelling.
מָכוֹן
A matter that is nakhon stands with the stability suggested by this branch: it has a place to rest.
THE PATTERN
A serious claim passes through hearing, active examination, and confirmation before it is treated as established.
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.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
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.The same root, דָּרַשׁ (darash, “seek or inquire”), appears here in the searching for God. In Deuteronomy the search tests a report; here that same movement of inquiry opens into finding.
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