What Does Exodus 4:9 Mean in the King James?
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
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
When the voice is not received, its sign passes into matter: river water becomes blood on dry ground.
THE MEANING
A voice can be refused, and the verse answers that refusal with a sign in the visible world: water taken from the river becomes blood when poured on dry land. What begins as something heard becomes something seen, an unsettling change in the material world. Here, trust and hearing meet a sign that can be witnessed.
THE ROOT
יַאֲמִינוּ
ya’aminu
GROWS FROM
אמן
To be firm, steady, or supportive.
The word translated “believe” grows from the seed of firmness and support. The question is whether the sign makes a person steady in what the voice says: trust as leaning your full weight, not a detached opinion.
ALSO GROWS
emunah: Trust; leaning your full weight on something.
אֱמוּנָה
This branch shows the weight-bearing quality inside the verse’s call to believe.
amen: Firm; truly; so be it.
אָמֵן
The same seed appears in a spoken affirmation, connecting belief with taking a steady position.
יִשְׁמְעוּן
yishme’un
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear and receive.
The word translated “hearken” carries hearing that reaches toward response. The verse sets that response beside trust: the voice is not merely sound to notice, but something to receive.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
This familiar branch holds together the hearing and response that the verse joins in “hearken unto thy voice.”
shemuah: A report; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The voice in the verse carries a message to be received, not just a sound passing by.
THE PATTERN
A sign or spoken word reaches its purpose when it is received as trust that answers.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.THE THREAD
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.The same roots return: aman, to be firm, and shema, to hear and respond. The next verse moves the sign from rod and hand to water and ground, extending the same call into a visible witness.
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