KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT
To get what Ecclesiastes 8:4 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity.
“Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?”
What does this verse really mean? Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Use this reference information to gain deeper insight into the Bible and enrich your understanding. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1].
| KJV Verse | Original Hebrew | Meaning/ Definition This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. | More Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Where” | בַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | Who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc | Where |
| “the word” | דְּבַר | A word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause | word |
| “of a king” | מֶ֖לֶךְ | A king | king |
| “is, there is” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “power:” | שִׁלְט֑וֹן | A potentate | power |
| “and who” | וּמִ֥י | Who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix | and who |
| “may say” | יֹֽאמַר | To say (used with great latitude) | say |
| “unto him, What” | מַֽה | Properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses | unto him What |
| “doest” | תַּעֲשֶֽׂה׃ | To do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application | doest |
| “thou?” | תַּעֲשֶֽׂה׃ | To do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application | thou |
See Ecclesiastes 8:4 with its adjacent verses in bold below. Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance.
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2 I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.