What Does Ezekiel 8:9 Mean in the King James?
And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
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 command makes seeing itself the revelation: what is done here becomes undeniable when the gaze enters the place.
THE MEANING
You are brought close enough to see what is being done, rather than naming it from a distance. The acts remain disturbing and exposed; looking at them neither invents them nor makes them harmless.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Concealment does not make a deed unreal or beyond sight: what is done here remains present to be seen.
THE ROOT
רְאֵה
re'eh
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see, look, or perceive.
“Behold” can sound like a pause for observation, but the Hebrew ראה (ra’ah, to see or perceive) also appears in the next verse’s question, “hast thou seen?” The repeated root makes direct sight part of the revelation: what is hidden is brought into view.
ALSO GROWS
ra'ah: To see, look, or perceive.
רָאָה
The verse’s command to behold comes from this same root of sight.
mar'eh: Appearance or vision.
מַרְאֶה
This branch links seeing with what comes into view.
תּוֹעֵבוֹת
to'evot
GROWS FROM
תעב
To abhor or detest.
“abominations” in this verse is to'evot. The word carries the sense of what is detested, not only a label for a forbidden act. Its root keeps the force of abhorrence inside the description: the things brought into view are presented as loathsome.
ALSO GROWS
to'evah: A detestable thing; an abomination.
תּוֹעֵבָה
This is the singular form of the word translated “abominations.”
to'ev: Abhorring or detesting.
תּוֹעֵב
This verbal form exposes the root’s force of abhorrence within the noun for what is detested.
THE PATTERN
What is hidden becomes exposed when attention is led into the place where it is being done.
He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.THE THREAD
Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.The Hebrew repeats ראה (ra’ah, to see) in the question “hast thou seen” and the claim “the LORD seeth us not.” That repetition sets the prophet’s sight against the belief that hidden acts escape God’s sight.
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