What Does Ezekiel 24:20 Mean in the King James?

Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 24:20 · 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 before he spoke it, so what reaches him is both a message and an occurrence.

THE MEANING

You meet the pause between receiving and answering: the word is already present to Ezekiel, and only then does his reply begin. Its content remains just beyond the line, bringing the moment of receiving into view.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that the answer begins in the speaker: Ezekiel’s reply follows what he first receives.

THE ROOT

הָיָה

hāyâ

GROWS FROM

היה

h-y-h

Be, become, happen, or come to pass.

The Hebrew verb is ⁨הָיָה⁩ (hāyâ, “was” or “happened”), rendered here as “came.” Its range lets the moment read as the LORD’s word being present to Ezekiel; the same root carries the sense of being or coming to be.

ALSO GROWS

’ehyeh: I am; I will be.

אֶהְיֶה

This form of the same root appears in God’s words “I AM THAT I AM” in Exodus 3:14, giving the verb here a resonance of being and presence.

vayhi: And it was; and it happened.

וַיְהִי

This narrative form of the root shows how the verb can mark something coming to pass, illuminating the word’s arrival as an occurrence.

דְּבַר

devar

GROWS FROM

דבר

d-b-r

Speak; the word family also carries the senses of matter, thing, or affair.

⁨דְּבַר⁩ (devar) is the construct form of ⁨דָּבָר⁩ (dābār), whose range includes “word,” “matter,” and “affair.” Hebrew keeps utterance and what is at stake close together: the word is something said and a matter that comes to bear.

ALSO GROWS

dābār: Word, matter, thing, or affair.

דָּבָר

This noun shows that “the word of the LORD” can carry both a spoken message and the matter being spoken.

dibbēr: Speak; say.

דִּבֵּר

The same root joins the word Ezekiel receives to the act of speaking that follows.

THE PATTERN

What is received becomes speech: a word arrives to someone and passes through them toward others.

Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

Jeremiah 1:9 · KJVThe word is placed within the speaker before it is spoken outwardly.

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

John 17:8 · KJVWords pass from one receiver to another, and are then received in turn.

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 · KJVThe word is heard through a speaker, received, and continues to work within its hearers.

THE THREAD

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Exodus 3:14 · KJV

Ezekiel’s “came” translates ⁨הָיָה⁩ (hāyâ, “was” or “happened”), while “I AM” renders ⁨אֶהְיֶה⁩ (’ehyeh), a form of the same root. Their shared root lets Ezekiel’s line carry a resonance of being and coming to be.

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