What Does Judges 18:3 Mean in the King James?
When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?
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 Hebrew root behind “they knew” also names what is foreign: they identify the voice while the Levite’s presence remains a question.
THE MEANING
You can be recognized by your voice while your place remains unexplained: the men know the Levite’s sound, then ask who brought him, what he is doing, and what he has there. Even the householder’s name carries a question, Micah (מִיכָה, Mîḵāh, “Who is like Yah?”). The moment holds identity and belonging apart.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being recognized does not mean being understood: the men know his voice and still ask who brought him and what he is doing there.
THE ROOT
הִכִּירוּ
hikkîrû
GROWS FROM
נכר
To recognize or distinguish; a related form also means foreign or strange.
The verb here means “they recognized,” from a consonantal family that also names what is foreign. They identify whose voice it is, but that recognition does not explain how the Levite came to be there. English “knew” can hide the root’s edge of distinction.
ALSO GROWS
hikkîrû: They recognized or identified.
הִכִּירוּ
This is the verb in the verse: the men identify the Levite through his voice.
nokhrî: Foreigner or stranger.
נָכְרִי
The same consonants also name a stranger, linking recognition with distinguishing what is familiar from what is not.
THE PATTERN
A voice can disclose identity even while appearance or circumstance leaves something unresolved.
And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.THE THREAD
And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.The Hebrew verb translated “knew” here is וַיַּכִּירָהּ (vayakkîrāh, “he recognized it”), from the same root נכר (n-k-r; nākar) behind the men recognizing the Levite’s voice. In both verses a sign is recognized, but recognition alone does not settle what it means: the voice identifies the Levite while his place remains unexplained, and the coat is identified while its story is misread.
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