What Does Zechariah 1:14 Mean in the King James?

So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

Zechariah 1:14 · 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 same Hebrew seed holds jealousy and zeal together: Jerusalem is met with a fierce, active regard.

THE MEANING

God’s regard is not distant or indifferent: Jerusalem and Zion are held within a great intensity of care. The verse speaks of that attachment as present and directed toward the city associated with wholeness.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that Jerusalem is forgotten or beneath God’s concern: the verse names a fierce regard for her.

THE ROOT

קִנְאָה

qinʾāh

GROWS FROM

קנא

q-n-ʾ

To be jealous or zealous; to burn with ardor.

Within this root, jealousy and zeal share one seed: ardent intensity toward a bond or claim. The verse repeats that seed in “I am jealous” and “great jealousy,” making the intensity itself the force of God’s regard for Jerusalem.

ALSO GROWS

qannāʾ: Jealous, zealous

קַנָּא

Exodus calls the LORD “Jealous,” showing the same root as a name for this ardent attachment.

qinʾāh: Zeal, jealousy

קִנְאָה

Isaiah uses this noun for the zeal that brings the promised order into being.

יְרוּשָׁלַיִם

Yerushalayim

GROWS FROM

שלם

š-l-m

Wholeness, completeness.

The name Yerushalayim carries shalom, wholeness; the verse places the city’s wholeness within the force of divine zeal. Naming Jerusalem alongside Zion makes the object of that regard unmistakable.

ALSO GROWS

shalom: Wholeness, well-being

שָׁלוֹם

This is the wholeness carried in the name Yerushalayim, the city named in the verse.

shalem: Whole, complete

שָׁלֵם

This branch makes the connection between the city’s name and wholeness audible.

THE PATTERN

What is bound to God meets not indifference but active, consuming zeal.

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Exodus 34:14 · KJVThe LORD’s jealousy names an ardent claim over the bond between God and the people.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9:7 · KJVThe LORD’s zeal is presented as the force that establishes order and justice.

And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

John 2:17 · KJVThe same consuming intensity is directed toward what belongs to God.

THE THREAD

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9:7 · KJV

Isaiah’s “zeal” is ⁨קִנְאָה⁩ (qinʾāh, zeal or jealousy), the same root as Zechariah’s “great jealousy.” Zechariah names Jerusalem and Zion as the focus of this intensity; Isaiah shows that zeal bringing order and justice into being.

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