What Does Joshua 10:14 Mean in the King James?

And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.

Joshua 10:14 · 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

The verse names the LORD’s hearkening to a human voice as the day’s deepest wonder.

THE MEANING

A human voice stands inside the field of divine action: the LORD hears, and the LORD fights. The wonder named here is not only an extraordinary day, but that a person’s voice is heard within it.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that a human voice is too small to matter beside God’s action: the verse makes the LORD’s hearkening to a man’s voice its defining marvel.

THE ROOT

וַיִּשְׁמַע

wayyishmaʿ

GROWS FROM

שמע

Hear, listen, heed

“hearkened” in this verse is wayyishmaʿ. The verb comes from ⁨שמע⁩ (shamaʿ, hear or listen), the same root behind ⁨שְׁמַע⁩ (shemaʿ, hear and respond). Here, hearing is joined to action: the LORD hearkens to the man’s voice, and the next clause says the LORD fights for Israel.

ALSO GROWS

shemaʿ: Hear; attend and respond.

שְׁמַע

It shows the responsive force that can live inside hearing, illuminating the verse’s link between the man’s voice and the LORD’s action.

shemuʿah: A report or tidings; something heard.

שְׁמוּעָה

This branch keeps the root’s sense of hearing visible, while Joshua’s verb gives that hearing a listener who responds.

THE PATTERN

A human cry or prayer is received within divine action.

And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

Exodus 3:7 · KJVThe people’s cry is heard within the LORD’s seeing and knowing of their affliction.

The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 34:17 · KJVA human cry is met with the LORD’s hearing and deliverance.

And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.

Acts 10:31 · KJVCornelius’s prayer is named as heard by God, placing a person’s appeal within divine attention.

THE THREAD

The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 34:17 · KJV

Psalm 34:17 uses ⁨שמע⁩ (shamaʿ, hear or listen), the same root as Joshua’s “hearkened.” Joshua gives that hearing an immediate shape in the next clause: the LORD fights for Israel, so the voice is not merely heard but answered.

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