What Does Zechariah 8:17 Mean in the King James?
And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith 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
The Hebrew sound-link between “harm” and “neighbor” makes the relationship audible inside the harm the heart is planning.
THE MEANING
Harm is already being formed when it is rehearsed inwardly, and falsehood is already being embraced when it is loved. The LORD names both the hidden design and the sworn lie as things he hates.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A hidden plot is harmless until it is acted out, or a lie becomes trustworthy once wrapped in an oath.
THE ROOT
תַּחְשְׁבוּ
tachshevu
GROWS FROM
חשב
Think through, reckon, or devise.
“imagine” in this verse is tachshevu. This root can describe both devising and reckoning: the heart is not a blank place where harm does not count. The verse names the inward plan as an intentional design before it is spoken or carried out.
ALSO GROWS
machashavah: Thought, plan, or design.
מַחֲשָׁבָה
This branch shows that “imagine” can carry the weight of forming a plan, not just letting a passing thought arise.
neḥshav: Counted or considered.
נֶחְשָׁב
The same root links thinking with reckoning, giving the inner design real weight in the verse.
רָעַת
ra'at
GROWS FROM
רעע
Be bad or do harm.
“evil” in this verse is ra'at. Here רָעַת (ra’at, “harm”) stands beside רֵעֵהוּ (re’ehu, “his companion” or “neighbor”). Their shared consonants resh-ayin (ר־ע) create a sound echo, not proof that the words have the same root; English hides how the threatened relationship sounds inside the word for harm.
ALSO GROWS
raʿ: Bad or evil.
רַע
This form names the harmful quality the heart is planning against another person.
ra'ah: Harm, evil, or misfortune.
רָעָה
This noun keeps the focus on what is being designed against the neighbor: harm itself.
שְׁבֻעַת שֶׁקֶר
shevu'at sheqer
GROWS FROM
שקר
Deceive or deal falsely.
“false oath” in this verse is shevu'at sheqer. The word שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, “falsehood”) names what the oath carries; this is not merely an oath that accidentally misses the truth. The verse says falsehood is loved, making deceit an embraced posture alongside the inward plan.
ALSO GROWS
sheqer: Falsehood or a lie.
שֶׁקֶר
It names the false content held inside the oath.
shaqar: To lie or deal falsely.
שָׁקַר
This verbal branch shows falsehood as something enacted in a relationship, not merely an incorrect statement.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats inwardly planned harm and deceitful speech as one breach of trust with a neighbor.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.THE THREAD
Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.Zechariah’s תַּחְשְׁבוּ (tachshevu, “imagine or devise”) and the psalm’s חָשְׁבוּ (chashvu, “imagine”) share the root חשב (chashav, “think through or devise”). The psalm shows that inwardly devised harm can gather into war, revealing why the verse treats the heart’s intent as already consequential.
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