What Does Psalm 106:25 Mean in the King James?
But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.
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
Complaint can fill the whole tent and still leave the ear closed to the voice that calls for response.
THE MEANING
Their tents hold a chorus of complaint, while the LORD’s voice goes unreceived. This verse names a present split: words can fill a person’s inner space without becoming listening or response.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief this undoes is that speaking intensely about what is wrong means the speaker is also listening for the LORD’s voice.
THE ROOT
שָׁמְעוּ
shamʿu
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, listen, heed, respond.
The word translated “hearkened” comes from a root whose range reaches beyond sound to attentive response. The people voice their complaint, but the LORD’s voice receives no answer in their actions.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear! Listen and respond.
שְׁמַע
This imperative makes hearing a call to respond, the very response absent in the verse.
shemuʿah: Report, tidings; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch names what becomes available when a voice is received, while the LORD’s voice here remains unanswered.
shomēaʿ: One who hears or listens.
שֹׁמֵעַ
This word names the listener by an active posture, sharpening the contrast between murmuring and receiving the voice.
THE PATTERN
Hearing the divine voice is shown by a response that can redirect the listener, while self-enclosed speech can leave it unanswered.
For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: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.The Hebrew root שמע appears in the words translated “obeying” and “hearken,” making explicit the response Psalm 106 says is absent. Here, hearing the LORD’s voice is set beside ritual, revealing the weight of a listening response.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us