What Does Isaiah 37:15 Mean in the King James?
And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
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 verse makes prayer a movement into speech: what is carried inward is addressed to the LORD.
THE MEANING
You see someone bring words directly before the LORD. Prayer here takes form in speech, and the verse leaves space for what is said next.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The idea that prayer is only an inward feeling is unsettled by the words “saying” that follow.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל
vayitpallel
GROWS FROM
פלל
palal
To intervene or intercede; in the reflexive stem, to pray.
The Hebrew verb gives prayer the shape of an appeal made within a matter, directed toward God. English “prayed” can sound like a private feeling; the Hebrew depicts Hezekiah actively bringing his appeal before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
tefillah: Prayer
תְּפִלָּה
The noun for prayer grows from the same root, keeping prayer connected to making an appeal.
mitpallel: One who prays or intercedes
מִתְפַּלֵּל
This form shows the same root as an ongoing act of bringing an appeal before God.
חִזְקִיָּהוּ
Ḥizqiyyāhû
GROWS FROM
חזק
chazaq
To be strong or to strengthen.
Hezekiah’s name means “YHWH strengthens.” The person praying bears a name that holds strength together with the one to whom he speaks.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: Strong
חָזָק
The adjective carries the root’s sense of strength in the name Hezekiah.
chizzeq: Strengthen or reinforce
חִזֵּק
This verb makes the name’s strength active: strength can be given or renewed.
THE PATTERN
A matter becomes prayer when it is spoken toward God.
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.THE THREAD
Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.The Hebrew word translated “pray” in both verses grows from פלל (palal), the root of interceding or making an appeal. Hezekiah brings his own words before the LORD; in Genesis, one person’s prayer is made on behalf of another, showing the same root at work in intercession.
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