What Does Isaiah 37:4 Mean in the King James?
It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
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 prayer does not inform God of the taunt; it asks him to answer what he has already heard and carries the remnant into that hearing.
THE MEANING
When contempt is loud, the living God is not unaware of its words. Those who remain are still named in prayer. The verse holds these together: God’s hearing is already real, and intercession still has a place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that prayer must first make God aware of the threat. The LORD has heard already; prayer is for his answer and for the remnant’s sake.
THE ROOT
יִשְׁמַע
yishmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
hear, listen, heed
“hear” in this verse is yishmaʿ. The verse uses this root for both the hoped-for hearing and what the LORD has already heard. The root can carry hearing that attends and responds, so the prayer asks for an answer to words already received.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: hear and respond
שְׁמַע
This familiar form shows how hearing can include a response, not mere reception.
hishmiaʿ: make heard, proclaim
הִשְׁמִיעַ
The taunt is sent to make itself heard; the verse repeats that the LORD has heard it.
תְּפִלָּה
tefillah
GROWS FROM
פלל
p-l-l
intervene, interpose; in a reflexive form, pray
The word for prayer belongs to the language of intervention. Lifted for the remnant, it places their need before God as a plea for action.
ALSO GROWS
hitpallel: pray, intercede
הִתְפַּלֵּל
This verb form makes the intercessory shape of the requested prayer explicit.
mitpallel: one praying, one interceding
מִתְפַּלֵּל
The root’s branch names a person who stands in prayer for another, as the verse asks here.
הַשְּׁאֵרִית
ha-she'erit
GROWS FROM
שאר
sh-ʾ-r
remain, be left over
“remnant” in this verse is ha-she'erit. The word points to those still remaining after a threat has put the whole at risk. They are not an abstraction: the prayer keeps the lives still present in view.
ALSO GROWS
she'ar: remainder, rest
שְׁאָר
This form shares the root’s sense of what remains after something has been taken away.
nish'ar: remains, is left
נִשְׁאַר
The verb describes the condition of those the prayer names: they are still here.
THE PATTERN
God hears cries in distress, and those who remain are still held in view through apparent loss.
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.THE THREAD
Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.The same root, שָׁמַע (shamaʿ, hear and respond), appears again as the prayer asks the LORD to hear the threat. The repeated request opens this verse further: it asks for God’s response to words the verse already says he has heard.
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