We all want to be heard.
Whether by God or by man, we want swift and undivided attention to the cries of our hearts.
But like a child grabbing the hand of his father and tug, tugging him to see something so very important, we long most for God’s ardent regard.
Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. (2 Chronicles 6:40)
Welcome to my KJV Bible Word Study Series!
I love the King James Version Bible. I believe it is the most accurate and beautiful translation we can read. Nevertheless, it is important for us to know that none of the translations we have today (including the KJV) is perfect. Only the original Hebrew and Greek texts from which they came are divinely inspired.
The KJV, its lyrical beauty aside, uses some antiquated words, and words that have changed their meanings over time, that might send us scrambling for the nearest dictionary or concordance.
In this series, I take words that we may be unfamiliar with outside their biblical setting or that may be confusing to our modern-day English sensibilities and expound upon their original meaning within the context of the verse.
By using Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, it is my hope to bring clarity to, and broaden our understanding of, many beloved and obscure KJV Bible passages.
Beseech
Beseech—H4994: A primitive particle of incitement and entreaty, usually rendered “I Pray”, now or then; I pray thee; go to, now; oh
H577: oh now! I beseech thee, O; I pray thee, O ; taken from H4994 above and H160: love, to have affection, beloved, like, friend
G1189: to beg (as binding oneself), petition, pray (to), make request; taken from G1210: to bind, be in bonds, knit, tie; compare to G4441: an urgent need
G3870: to call near, invite, invoke (by imploration, exhortation, or consolation), call forth, (be of good) comfort, desire, exhort, (give) exhortation, entreat; taken from G3844: near and G2564: bid, call (forth)
G2065: to interrogate, by implication to request; ask, desire, intreat, pray; taken from G2045: to seek, search, investigate; and from G2046: call, say, tell
Beseeching—G3870 and G2065 (See definitions above)
[Words in bold or italics added for emphasis in Bible verses throughout this study.]
Beseech
Every day you and I beseech when we reverentially implore God to hear us or beckon our fellow man (our spouse, children, closest friends) to consider our words.
Of the thirty-five times the word beseech is used in the Old Testament, all but six are used to address God. This beseeching is an urgent request and a call for action on His part.
A prayer spoken in the inhalation of Oh, dear God.
A prayer of longing and desperation of Oh, would that God!
Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even unto now. (Numbers 14:19)
Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. (Psalm 118:25)
Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. (Jonah 1:14)
Six Old Testament uses of beseech are respectful addresses to someone in authority: a king, a captain, higher official, even a prophet.
In Jeremiah 42, all the captains of the remnant of Israel and all the people great and small came unto the prophet Jeremiah saying,
Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God even for all this remnant . . . That the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do. (Jeremiah 42:2)
In the New Testament, there are thirty-one entries of beseech or beseeching divided into three similar yet distinct variations for the word.
The Greek word parakaleo (G3870) means “to call to one’s side” or “to call to one’s aid.”
This beseeching is stronger than mere asking.
It is an invitation—calling someone near with the intent to comfort or plead with or share a desire.
Paul writes to his friend Philemon about the runaway Onesimus, a plea for love.
Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin [order, or charge] thee that which is convenient,Yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus whom I have begotten in my bonds. (Philemon 1:8–10)
In another appeal for the sake of love, Paul addresses the congregation at Corinth,
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10)
From the Greek word deomai (G1189), beseech is rendered “to beg or petition for an urgent need.”
In Luke 9, there is an urgent need in the heart of this father when approaching Jesus Christ.
And behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. (Luke 9:38)
Do you feel the desperate longing in this father’s plea? We Christians have all been in this place. Begging for a different outcome, a change of heart, a turning of circumstances.
Praying that God will save us.
In Galatians 4, Paul was disheartened to learn that many of those he had taught turned back to a state of bondage to the physical Law.
He was like a distraught father who just found out his teenage children were chasing after the wrong crowd. He’s not just asking, he’s begging that they hear him; because he knew how high the stakes were if they strayed, how eternally important it was they heed his words.
His outcry to their stumbling is “Brethren, I beseech you [I beg of you], be as I am [follow the example I set for you from the beginning]” (Galatians 4:12).
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:9)
Paul beseeched others, like a father to his own child, for their spiritual wellbeing. That should be the ultimate goal of our desire to be heard.
Lastly, we have the Greek erotao (G2065) which means “earnestly request, ask, or desire” between equals or those of familiarity with whom one makes a request.
The more common word ask is aiteo and is used by those who are lesser in position than the one who is being petitioned: man to God, child to a parent, subject to a king.
(An interesting note that cannot be adequately represented in the English language is that in the Gospels whenever Christ asked anything of His Father He used erotao never aiteo, which showed His being on equal footing with God the Father.)
Both apostles Paul and Peter, as if beholding a loved one’s face between their hands and looking them steadily in the eyes, beseech the brethren to hear their wisdom and knowledge.
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. (1 Peter 2:11)
I [Paul] therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. (Ephesians 4:1–2)
The Apostle John probably understood the love of God better than anyone. It was his prayer, his greatest desire that we understand that love to the uttermost.
And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
And this is love, that we walk after his [Christ’s] commandments. (2 John 1:5–6)
I beseech you, dear Christian, to hold fast to the life-preserving truth of Christ amid the tsunami of falsehoods spewing from the world.
Hold tight. Nothing else matters.
We all have an inborn need to be heard.
To bid our loved ones come closer and hear us. But there is no guarantee they will.
But when we beseech God with a pure heart and humbleness of mind, HE WILL.
He has promised this.
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24)
I love a good word study, don’t you? I hope you’ve gleaned, along with me, some additional insight into the rich words used in the KJV Bible.
If you would like to read more posts in this series, please check out my KJV Bible Studies page.
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Abiding in the Vine,
~ Gleniece
The post “Beseech: KJV Bible Word Study Series” was first published on Desert Rain.
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