What Does Zechariah 8:9 Mean in the King James?
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
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 words are not only announcing the temple’s foundation; they steady the hands that must build on it.
THE MEANING
The words you hear now steady your hands for the work in front of you. A foundation already laid does not finish the building; it gives the work a place to begin. What you hear takes shape in the work your hands do.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this verse undoes is that once the foundation is laid, the work is finished.
THE ROOT
תֶּחֱזַקְנָה
teḥezáqnāh
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥazaq
Be firm or strong; strengthen.
“strong” in this verse is teḥezáqnāh. The word describes hands becoming firm, while the same root also names the act of strengthening. Hearing these words sits beside the work: they steady the hands that continue the building.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: Be strong or grow firm.
חָזַק
It shows the hands’ strength as firmness for the work ahead.
ḥizzēq: Strengthen or reinforce.
חִזֵּק
It carries the same root from becoming firm to making something firm.
הַשֹּׁמְעִים
hashomʿim
GROWS FROM
שמע
shamaʿ
Hear, listen, or heed.
“hear” in this verse is hashomʿim. The verse names the people by the words reaching them, then speaks directly to their hands. Listening here stands beside action: the message reaches people whose hands have building to do.
ALSO GROWS
shāmaʿ: Hear or listen.
שָׁמַע
This is the verb behind the hearers addressed in the verse.
shemuʿāh: A report or message heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
It connects hearing to the words that arrive and call for a response.
יְסוֹד
yesod
GROWS FROM
יסד
yāsad
Establish, set in place, or lay a foundation.
English makes “foundation” sound like a finished platform; its root carries the action of establishing. Here the foundation is a beginning: it is laid so the house can be built.
ALSO GROWS
yāsad: Establish, found, or lay a foundation.
יָסַד
The verb makes the foundation an act that begins the building.
môsād: A foundation or base.
מוֹסָד
It names the established base on which further work can proceed.
THE PATTERN
Hearing God’s words becomes embodied work that builds what can stand.
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:Haggai uses the same root חזק (ḥazaq), meaning “be strong” or “become firm,” in its repeated call to strength. It joins that strength to work and to the assurance of God’s presence, showing how firm hands become building hands.
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