What Does Ezra 7:10 Mean in the King James?
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
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
A heart prepared for instruction becomes the hinge where seeking passes into practice and practice into teaching.
THE MEANING
This verse presents a living sequence: your heart turns toward the LORD’s instruction, you seek it, embody it, and pass it on. What is truly sought becomes visible in action, and what is lived can become instruction for others.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that understanding is complete when it stays in your head; here, seeking reaches into practice and teaching.
THE ROOT
הֵכִין
hekin
GROWS FROM
כון
kun
To be firm or established; in the causative form, to establish or prepare.
The word translated “prepared” comes from a root meaning to establish. Ezra’s heart is set in a steady direction, from which seeking, doing, and teaching flow.
ALSO GROWS
nakhon: Firm, established, ready.
נָכוֹן
The same root describes an established heart, connecting preparation with a settled inward orientation.
makon: An established place or dwelling.
מָכוֹן
This branch lets preparation carry the sense of making a place where instruction can take shape.
תּוֹרַת
torat
GROWS FROM
ירה
yarah
To point or direct; in its causative form, to instruct. Torah means instruction or direction.
The word rendered “law” is Torah: instruction that gives direction. Its root connects that instruction with pointing the way, fitting a verse where it is sought, practiced, and taught.
ALSO GROWS
moreh: A teacher or instructor.
מוֹרֶה
The same root links instruction with the person who guides others, echoing the verse’s movement from Torah to teaching.
lehorot: To instruct or direct.
לְהוֹרוֹת
This verb shows Torah as direction that can be followed and passed on.
לִדְרֹשׁ
lidrosh
GROWS FROM
דרש
darash
To seek, inquire, or require; an active search for what is sought.
“seek” in this verse is lidrosh. This is searching with inquiry and engagement, not a passing glance. The root’s branches connect seeking with study and interpretation, opening a path from encountering instruction to understanding and carrying it into life.
ALSO GROWS
midrash: Inquiry, study, or interpretation.
מִדְרָשׁ
This branch preserves the active investigation within seeking: the instruction is engaged closely enough to be explored.
derishah: An inquiry, search, or demand.
דְּרִישָׁה
The related noun gives seeking the force of a sustained request for understanding, fitting the verse’s movement toward practice.
THE PATTERN
Instruction becomes a living transmission when it is held inwardly, embodied in action, and shared with others.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.THE THREAD
He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.The Hebrew word translated “fixed” is נָכוֹן (nakhon), from the same root כון (kun) as “prepared” in Ezra. The shared root reveals preparation as an established heart, steady in trust as it seeks and practices instruction.
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