What Does Luke 9:35 Mean in the King James?
And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear 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
The revelation culminates not in seeing the cloud but in hearing the beloved Son.
THE MEANING
The voice names the Son as beloved and makes hearing him the point of the revelation. Love and authority arrive together: the one named by the Father’s love is the one whose voice matters now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that witnessing a spiritual sign is enough; the voice directs attention from the spectacle to the Son.
THE ROOT
ἀκούετε
akouete
GROWS FROM
ἀκούω
akouō
To hear, listen to, or understand.
“hear” in this verse is akouete. The command is more than sound reaching the ear: its root also appears in words for hearing and for listening in a way that responds. The voice turns the vision toward a relationship with the one speaking.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing; a report or message heard.
ἀκοή
The same word family can name both the act of hearing and what is heard, joining the listener to the message.
hypakouō: Listen to; obey.
ὑπακούω
This compound carries the same hearing-root into responsive listening, echoing the force of “hear him” in the verse.
ἀγαπητός
agapētos
GROWS FROM
ἀγαπάω
agapaō
To love, hold dear.
“beloved” in this verse is agapētos. The voice identifies the Son through the language of love before giving the command to hear him. The one whose words carry authority is also named as the one held dear.
ALSO GROWS
agapaō: To love.
ἀγαπάω
This verb is the action behind calling the Son beloved: love is expressed as a relationship, not merely a title.
agapē: Love.
ἀγάπη
The related noun places “beloved” within the same language of love that frames the voice’s declaration.
THE PATTERN
The voice that reveals divine identity also directs people to listen to the one revealed.
The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:John uses the same Greek verb ἀκούω (akouō), “hear,” found in Luke’s command to hear the Son. Here, hearing is joined to being known and following, opening Luke’s command as recognition of a voice that draws a response.
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