What Does Exodus 3:18 Mean in the King James?
And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.
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 first sign of freedom is shama, hearing that answers, gathering a people into one shared approach.
THE MEANING
Here, hearing becomes visible as response: the voice gathers elders into a shared approach, and an encounter with the LORD becomes a request spoken together. The requested space is concrete, a journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice, so the encounter takes shape in a communal act.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that hearing is passive reception: here, the voice is heard through a people’s movement and answer.
THE ROOT
וְשָׁמְעוּ
wəšāməʿû
GROWS FROM
שמע
hear, listen, heed, and respond
English “hearken” can sound like attentive listening alone, but שָׁמַע (shama, hear and respond) includes the answer that follows reception. The elders’ hearing already begins the shared response described in the verse.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; listen and heed.
שְׁמַע
The imperative makes hearing an active response, not just the reception of sound.
shemu’ah: A report or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The voice becomes a report the elders can carry and speak together.
נִקְרָה
niqrah
GROWS FROM
קרא
call, proclaim, summon; in this form, meet or encounter
“met with us” in this verse is niqrah. The Hebrew verb rendered “met” is נִקְרָה (niqrah, met or encountered), from קרא (qara, call or proclaim). The shared seed joins encounter with calling and public speech: the meeting is carried into a message spoken before the king.
ALSO GROWS
qara: To call out, proclaim, or summon.
קָרָא
The encounter is immediately given voice in the message addressed to the king.
miqra: A calling together; a public reading or assembly.
מִקְרָא
This branch echoes the verse’s movement from encounter into a message carried by the elders together.
וְנִזְבְּחָה
wənizbəḥāh
GROWS FROM
זבח
slaughter, especially for sacrifice
English “sacrifice” can hide the physical act; זבח (zabach, slaughter or sacrifice) keeps slaughter within the word. Its branch מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach, altar) names the place from the same root, so the requested worship has material form.
ALSO GROWS
zebaḥ: A slaughtered offering or sacrifice.
זֶבַח
It keeps the request grounded in a specific act rather than an abstract expression of devotion.
mizbeach: An altar, named from the root of slaughtering or sacrifice.
מִזְבֵּחַ
The same root links the act requested here with the place where it is enacted.
THE PATTERN
A voice truly heard becomes a shared response that carries encounter into concrete action.
Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?THE THREAD
And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.Exodus 4:31 uses וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ (vayishme’u, they heard) from שָׁמַע (shama, hear and respond), the same seed as “hearken” here. Their hearing moves into bowing and worship, making visible the response this verse holds in its opening verb.
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