What Does Ezekiel 24:19 Mean in the King James?
And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?
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
They are not asking only what they see; they are asking what the visible act declares about them.
THE MEANING
The question rises whenever a visible act reaches beyond the person doing it: what does this mean for us? You are not only watching what happens; you are asking what it reveals about the shared life around you. The question holds open the need for its meaning to be spoken plainly.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief is that what happens in another person’s life has no bearing on you; this question insists that an act may concern the whole community.
THE ROOT
תַּגִּיד
taggid
GROWS FROM
נגד
to declare, make known; to bring into view
“tell” in this verse is taggid. The people ask with taggid, from נגד (n-g-d), “to declare, make known.” Related forms include neged, “in front of,” and maggid, “one who declares”; the family links what is placed before someone with the act of making it known. Their question asks for the act’s meaning to be made clear as something that concerns them all.
ALSO GROWS
maggid: one who declares or reports
מַגִּיד
Genesis 41:24 uses this same root for declaring what a dream means; here, too, the people ask for the significance of what they see.
neged: in front of, opposite, corresponding to
נֶגֶד
This related form evokes what is set before someone, fitting the question of what a visible act holds for those who witness it.
THE PATTERN
A visible sign reaches its meaning when people ask how it bears on them.
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:THE THREAD
And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.The word translated “declare” comes from the same root as Ezekiel’s “tell.” Here, too, the visible image raises a question whose meaning must be made known.
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