What Does Isaiah 38:7 Mean in the King James?
And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
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
In Hebrew, the promised “thing” and what the LORD has “spoken” share the root דבר (d-b-r): the sign makes their connection visible.
THE MEANING
What is spoken and what takes shape belong together here; the word is not detached from the thing being done. The sign gives you something visible to recognize while fulfillment is still ahead.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a promise is only empty sound until its result appears: here, a sign holds the spoken word and the coming action together.
THE ROOT
הַדָּבָר
ha-davar
GROWS FROM
ד־ב־ר
d-b-r
The verbal root means to speak; its related noun carries the senses word, matter, or thing.
“thing / hath spoken” in this verse is ha-davar. The KJV renders the related forms as “thing” and “hath spoken,” though both grow from דבר (d-b-r). The sign reveals that the spoken word and the thing the LORD will do belong to one field of meaning.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
This noun names the “thing” the LORD will do and shares its root with the verb translated “hath spoken.”
dibber: He spoke; to speak or declare.
דִּבֵּר
This is the verb translated “hath spoken,” linking the promised event and the spoken word through the same root.
THE PATTERN
A sign makes a spoken promise recognizable through something that can be seen.
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.THE THREAD
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.Isaiah 55 uses the same root, דבר (d-b-r), for “word” and connects it with what that word accomplishes. Here, “thing” and “hath spoken” share that root too, so the sign marks where utterance and outcome meet.
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