What Does Ezekiel 21:8 Mean in the King James?

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 21:8 · KJV

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 Hebrew says the LORD’s word “was” to Ezekiel, so revelation appears as an event before it becomes a message.

THE MEANING

The LORD’s word meets you as a living event, not merely a thought to examine from a distance. Before its content unfolds, its arrival is already an encounter.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It dissolves the assumption that God’s word is only information already possessed: here, the word arrives before it is even spoken.

THE ROOT

דָּבָר

davar

GROWS FROM

ד־ב־ר

d-b-r

To speak; as a noun, a word, matter, or thing.

In Hebrew, ⁨דָּבָר⁩ (davar, “word”) can also mean a matter or thing; speech and what speech concerns belong to one word-family. This makes the LORD’s word more than information delivered: it is a reality that reaches Ezekiel before unfolding in speech.

ALSO GROWS

dibbēr: To speak.

דִּבֵּר

The verb shares the seed of the noun: the word is speech in action, not an inert label.

devarim: Words, matters, or affairs.

דְּבָרִים

This plural preserves the link between what is spoken and the matters that speech brings into view.

וַיְהִי

wayehi

GROWS FROM

היה

h-y-h

To be, become, or happen.

The KJV’s “came” translates ⁨וַיְהִי⁩ (wayehi, “and it was” or “and it happened”). The Hebrew lets the word’s arrival sound like an event coming into being with its hearer, before the next phrase says what it speaks.

ALSO GROWS

hayah: To be, become, or happen.

הָיָה

The root gives the verse’s arrival an additional shade of presence and occurrence.

vehayah: And it will be, or come to pass.

וְהָיָה

This form shows the same root can describe an event unfolding, echoing the word that comes to Ezekiel before it is spoken.

THE PATTERN

The divine word reaches a person as an encounter before its message unfolds.

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Genesis 15:1 · KJVThe word arrives before its reassurance is spoken, making encounter the beginning of the message.

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Jeremiah 1:4 · KJVThe word’s arrival again precedes its saying, opening a moment of direct encounter.

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

1 Peter 1:25 · KJVThe enduring word is still brought near through proclamation, reaching the reader in the present.

THE THREAD

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

Psalm 33:6 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨דָּבָר⁩ (davar, “word”): in Ezekiel it comes to him, and in the psalm it is the means by which the heavens are made. The shared root opens the word from message to creative reality.

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