What Does Judges 3:19 Mean in the King James?
But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
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
Here secrecy becomes a physical force: one hidden message empties the room around the king.
THE MEANING
A secret request changes who is present: the king commands silence, and every attendant leaves. The hidden word reshapes the room, making private access possible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Privacy is not proof of safety or trustworthiness; here, the request for secrecy isolates the king.
THE ROOT
סֵתֶר
seter
GROWS FROM
סתר
s-t-r
To hide or conceal, keeping something out of sight.
Seter names what is concealed, but the same word-family also names a hiding place. Here the secret is more than hidden information: it becomes the premise that clears witnesses and creates access.
ALSO GROWS
satar: To hide or conceal.
סָתַר
This verb shows concealment as an action, not only a quality of the errand.
mistar: A hiding place or refuge.
מִסְתָּר
The root can describe a place made hidden, echoing how the king’s room becomes isolated.
הַפְּסִילִים
ha-pesilim
GROWS FROM
פסל
p-s-l
To hew or carve into shape.
The Hebrew term points to carved figures, from the root for carving. The KJV’s quarries preserves the stone setting; the Hebrew also lets the scene sit among carved forms as Ehud offers a hidden word.
ALSO GROWS
pesel: A carved image or idol.
פֶּסֶל
This related noun names a figure shaped by carving, illuminating the Hebrew term used for the place.
pasal: To carve or hew.
פָּסַל
This verb supplies the shaping action behind the carved forms.
THE PATTERN
Secrecy may shelter something or conceal it, but hiddenness does not erase what is there.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.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
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.Both verses use seter, the same word for hiddenness. Psalm 91 makes the hidden place a refuge; Judges shows a secret request clearing a room, revealing that what matters is what the hiddenness shelters or conceals.
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