What Does Zechariah 7:8 Mean?

And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,

Zechariah 7:8 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

THE KEY

The “word” that comes is formed from the root “speak,” so what reaches Zechariah is speech in motion, not detached information.

THE MEANING

The LORD’s word reaches Zechariah as direct address; message and utterance stay joined. His name, Zekharyah (⁨זְכַרְיָה⁩, “YHWH remembers”), carries remembrance in the name of the person addressed.

THE ROOT

דָּבָר

dāḇār

GROWS FROM

ד־ב־ר

d-b-r

to speak, declare

The noun ⁨דָּבָר⁩ (dāḇār, “word” or “matter”) grows from ⁨ד־ב־ר⁩ (d-b-r, “speak”). The English “word” also carries the force of utterance: speech with substance.

ALSO GROWS

dibbēr: he spoke

דִּבֵּר

This verbal form shows the speech held within the noun translated “word.”

devarim: words, matters

דְּבָרִים

The same root can name both spoken words and the matters they carry.

זְכַרְיָה

Zekharyah

GROWS FROM

ז־כ־ר

z-k-r

to remember, call to mind

“Zechariah” in this verse is Zekharyah. Zekharyah (⁨זְכַרְיָה⁩, “YHWH remembers”) joins the root ⁨ז־כ־ר⁩ (z-k-r, “remember”) to the divine name. The recipient’s name carries remembrance rather than functioning as a bare label.

ALSO GROWS

zāḵar: remember, call to mind

זָכַר

The verb gives the action contained in the name Zechariah.

zikkārôn: remembrance, memorial

זִכָּרוֹן

This branch shows remembrance taking form as something held in mind.

THE PATTERN

God’s word reaches a hearer as direct address and makes its presence known through what it does.

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jeremiah 1:4 · SDVThe same opening formula presents the LORD’s word as something that reaches a person and begins speech.

While Annas and Caiaphas were the chief priests, the word of God came upon John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

Luke 3:2 · SDVThe word of God again comes to a named hearer, extending the arrival pattern into the Gospels.

For the word of God is living and working, and sharper than any two-edged sword, reaching through even to the dividing of living soul and breath, of joints and marrow, and it separates the inward movements and thoughts of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 · SDVHere the word’s living force is shown through its action: it penetrates and discerns the heart.

THE THREAD

By the word of the LORD the heavens are made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.

Psalm 33:6 · SDV

Both verses use ⁨דָּבָר⁩ (dāḇār, “word”), from ⁨ד־ב־ר⁩ (d-b-r, “speak”). Psalm 33 shows that word as active utterance, the heavens are made by it, so the word arriving to Zechariah carries the force of speech at work.

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