What Does Judges 6:10 Mean in the King James?

And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

Judges 6:10 · 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 deeper failure is not fearing the wrong power; it is hearing the right voice without responding.

THE MEANING

You can stop fearing the powers around you and still remain unresponsive to the voice addressing you now. This verse locates the deeper rupture in hearing that never becomes response; freedom from one allegiance does not by itself mean you are listening.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that rejecting the surrounding powers is enough to mean you are aligned with God. You can refuse their claim and still fail to respond to God’s voice.

THE ROOT

שְׁמַעְתֶּם

shemaʿtem

GROWS FROM

שׁמע

To hear, listen, heed, and respond.

The Hebrew behind “obeyed” comes from ⁨שׁמע⁩ (shamaʿ, hear and respond), the same root in the call “Hear, O Israel.” The verse locates the failure in hearing itself: a voice is not fully received while its call goes unanswered.

ALSO GROWS

shamaʿ: To hear or listen, with the sense of heeding what is heard.

שָׁמַע

The verse renders this hearing as “obeyed,” showing that its meaning reaches beyond sound entering the ear.

shemuʿah: A report or message that has been heard.

שְׁמוּעָה

This branch makes hearing a received message; the verse’s concern is whether the LORD’s voice is received responsively.

THE PATTERN

Hearing becomes real when the received word shapes a response.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Deuteronomy 6:4 · KJVThe call to hear opens with the same root that can carry the sense of heeding and response.

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Isaiah 1:19 · KJV“Obedient” comes from the hearing-and-responding root, and the verse connects that response with the good of the land.

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

James 1:22 · KJVJames makes the distinction plain: hearing that never reaches action is incomplete.

THE THREAD

And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:22 · KJV

Both passages use ⁨שׁמע⁩ (shamaʿ, hear and respond) for “obey.” Samuel makes the link explicit by placing responsive hearing above sacrifice, sharpening why Judges names the failure as not hearing the LORD’s voice.

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