What Does Esther 6:9 Mean in the King James?
And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
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 word translated “honour” carries the sense of preciousness: the ceremony makes visible what the king values.
THE MEANING
Honor here takes visible form in clothing, a horse, and a public announcement. The king’s recognition passes through another person’s hands, then becomes something the city can see and hear. The repeated declaration makes honor both embodied and spoken.
THE ROOT
בִּיקָרוֹ
biqārō
GROWS FROM
יקר
y-q-r
To be precious, costly, or prized; preciousness and value.
“honour” in this verse is biqārō. The word for honor carries the language of what is precious. The ceremony displays what the king counts valuable, making that regard visible to the city.
ALSO GROWS
yāqār: Precious, valuable, costly.
יָקָר
It shows the value embedded in the word translated “honour.”
yĕqār: Preciousness, honor.
יְקָר
This noun uses the same root to name the value that the public ceremony displays.
וְהִלְבִּישׁוּ
vehilbishū
GROWS FROM
לבש
l-b-sh
To wear clothing or clothe someone.
Hebrew forms the verb “array” and the word for “apparel” from the same root. English separates the clothing from the act of dressing, while the Hebrew links them: honor is put onto the body where it can be seen.
ALSO GROWS
lāvaš: To wear or put on clothing.
לָבַשׁ
It is the basic clothing action beneath the verb translated “array.”
levūš: Garment, clothing, attire.
לְבוּשׁ
The apparel itself shares the root of the act that clothes the honored person.
וְקָרְאוּ
veqārə’ū
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
To call out, summon, or announce.
“proclaim” in this verse is veqārə’ū. The city is not left to guess what the horse and clothing signify; a voice names the honor aloud. This root joins calling out with the gathering of listeners around a shared declaration.
ALSO GROWS
qārā’: To call, cry out, or proclaim.
קָרָא
It is the verb behind the public announcement before the honored person.
miqrā’: A convocation or public reading.
מִקְרָא
This related form shows how calling can bring people together to hear something publicly.
THE PATTERN
Honor becomes publicly legible when a valued person is given visible signs of status and the recognition is spoken before others.
And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.THE THREAD
The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.The word for “honour” shares the root יקר (y-q-r), meaning preciousness or value, with the ceremony in this verse. Later, that same honor belongs to the Jews as a people, beside light, gladness, and joy.
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