What Does Proverbs 1:24 Mean in the King James?
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
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
Wisdom’s appeal comes through both a voice and an outstretched hand, so the barrier named here is reception, not access.
THE MEANING
Wisdom calls you and extends a hand; her appeal is spoken and made visible. The verse locates the break in the response: the call is refused, and no one listens attentively. You are not shown a distant silence, but an invitation that can be left unanswered.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the absence of help proves no one has reached toward you: the verse places an outstretched hand beside the call.
THE ROOT
קָרָאתִי
qara’ti
GROWS FROM
קרא
Call out, summon, proclaim; the same root can also mean call or name.
The call is more than sound: קרא can also name or proclaim, giving the appeal the force of a direct address. English “called” can sound like a passing signal, while the Hebrew holds a summons meant to be received.
ALSO GROWS
qeri’ah: Reading aloud, proclamation, or calling.
קְרִיאָה
This branch keeps the call audible and public: Wisdom’s words are voiced, not hidden.
qara: To call out, summon, or name.
קָרָא
The root’s range links calling with naming; the voice addresses someone directly.
מַקְשִׁיב
maqshiv
GROWS FROM
קשב
Listen attentively, pay attention, heed.
The Hebrew says there is no one listening attentively, where English “regarded” can suggest merely looking or noticing. The verse’s failure is not that the call went unseen; it is that no one gave it an attentive ear.
ALSO GROWS
qashav: To listen, attend, or heed.
קָשַׁב
This verb names the response that the call seeks: attentive hearing.
maqshiv: One who listens or pays attention.
מַקְשִׁיב
The verse says there is no such listener, setting the unanswered voice beside the extended hand.
נָטִיתִי
natiti
GROWS FROM
נטה
Stretch or extend; also incline or turn aside.
“stretched out” in this verse is natiti. The same root can describe extending something and inclining it, so the outstretched hand carries both reach and orientation. English preserves the gesture but can hide that sense of turning toward someone.
ALSO GROWS
natah: To stretch out, extend, or incline.
נָטָה
This verb holds the extended hand and the act of turning toward within one root.
natah ohel: To pitch or spread out a tent.
נָטָה אֹהֶל
The root also describes spreading something outward, adding the sense of an open reach to the hand in the verse.
THE PATTERN
An offered call and an extended approach do not compel reception; the hearer can refuse.
I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.THE THREAD
Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.Both verses use קרא (qara, call) for a summons that can be met with refusal. Isaiah makes the unanswered call’s consequence explicit, giving Proverbs’ “no man regarded” the weight of a deliberate response.
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