What Does Isaiah 39:2 Mean in the King James?
And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
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, “show” is the causative of “see”: the act that opens the treasury puts everything inside the visitors’ sight.
THE MEANING
A glad welcome can open more than a conversation: what you show becomes what another person can see and know. The inventory moves from silver, gold, spices, ointment, and armor to everything in the house and across the dominion. Nothing remains outside the display.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a display can stay partial: it says nothing in the house or dominion remains unshown.
THE ROOT
וַיַּרְאֵם
wayyar'em
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see, look, or perceive; in this form, to cause someone to see, to show.
English can make showing and seeing feel like separate actions; Hebrew forms “showed them” as “caused them to see.” The repeated root makes Hezekiah’s display and the visitors’ seeing one movement, ending with nothing withheld.
ALSO GROWS
ro'eh: Seer; one who sees
רֹאֶה
This word for the one who sees shares the root ראה with “showed”; the display makes the visitors seers of the house.
mar'eh: Sight, appearance, or vision
מַרְאֶה
The same root can name what is seen, so the act of showing also creates an appearance held in the visitors’ view.
THE PATTERN
What is hidden or held in private can be brought into view and made knowable.
He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.THE THREAD
Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.The Hebrew repeats ראה (ra’ah, see): verse 2 says Hezekiah causes them to see, and verse 4 asks what they saw before answering, “all.” Showing and seeing share one root here, and the follow-up makes the total exposure explicit.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us