What Does Isaiah 37:14 Mean in the King James?

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

Isaiah 37:14 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

A threat becomes prayer when it is laid fully open before God, before any answer is given.

THE MEANING

A threatening message can be brought into the LORD’s presence exactly as it is. Its force does not have to be softened or answered first; its words are exposed before God in full.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that you must resolve or soften a threat before bringing it before God.

THE ROOT

וַיִּפְרְשֵׂהוּ

wayyiphrəsehu

GROWS FROM

פרשׂ

to spread out, stretch forth

“spread it” in this verse is wayyiphrəsehu. The same Hebrew verb describes this letter spread out and hands stretched toward God. The verse makes prayer an act of opening: the threat is no longer kept folded away, but made visible before the one addressed.

ALSO GROWS

efros: I will spread out

אֶפְרֹשׂ

In Exodus 9:29, Moses uses this verb for spreading his hands toward the LORD, linking an opened object with an opened posture.

perashti: I stretched forth

פֵּרַשְׂתִּי

Psalm 143:6 uses this form for stretching out hands toward God, echoing the letter laid open in this verse.

וַיִּקְרָאֵהוּ

wayyiqra'ehu

GROWS FROM

קרא

to call, proclaim, or read

“read it” in this verse is wayyiqra'ehu. The verb translated “read” also carries the sense of calling or proclaiming. The written threat is brought into words and then laid openly before God; it does not remain only a private message held in the mind.

ALSO GROWS

qara: called, named, proclaimed

קָרָא

In Genesis 1:5, God “called” the light Day and the darkness Night; the same verb family can name or voice what is before you.

miqra: convocation, assembly; also a reading

מִקְרָא

Leviticus 23:2 uses this noun for a sacred assembly, showing how a calling can gather people around a spoken word.

THE PATTERN

What threatens or weighs on a person is made explicit before God before its answer is known.

I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.

Psalm 142:2 · KJVThe complaint and trouble are brought into God’s presence in their plain form.

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Acts 4:29 · KJVThe threat is named directly before God before the speakers ask for what comes next.

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1 Peter 5:7 · KJVThe weight a person carries is placed upon God rather than kept enclosed within.

THE THREAD

I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

Psalm 143:6 · KJV

The verb translated “stretch forth” comes from the same Hebrew root, ⁨פרשׂ⁩ (paras, “spread out”), as “spread it” in Isaiah. The letter opened before God and the hands extended toward God share one motion: what is held is brought into the open.

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