What Does Genesis 24:57 Mean in the King James?
And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.
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 answer is not decided for her in silence: they will ask her own mouth.
THE MEANING
A choice that carries you forward is not fully voiced until your own answer is heard. Here, the question comes directly to her, and her response becomes part of what happens next.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that others can settle a life-changing choice without hearing from the person who must live it.
THE ROOT
וְנִשְׁאֲלָה אֶת־פִּיהָ
wenish'alah et-piha
GROWS FROM
שׁאל
shin
to ask, inquire, or request
“enquire at her mouth” in this verse is wenish'alah et-piha. The Hebrew says they will ask at her mouth, making her voice the source of the answer. The root can mean both asking and requesting, so the inquiry seeks a response from her rather than treating her choice as something others can infer.
ALSO GROWS
she'elah: request, petition
שְׁאֵלָה
This noun grows from the same root as asking; the question here makes room for a response that belongs to her.
Sha'ul: asked for, requested
שָׁאוּל
This form preserves the other side of asking: someone can be the one sought or requested. Here, the family turns toward Rebekah to hear her answer.
THE PATTERN
A choice opens when the person most affected is asked to speak.
And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.THE THREAD
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.The Hebrew root שאל appears in both verses: here they ask Rebekah, and Hannah says she has asked of the LORD. The same root holds an inquiry directed to a person and a request made to God.
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