What Does Exodus 24:14 Mean?
And he said to the elders, Sit here for us until we turn back to you, and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; if anyone holds a word, let him draw near to them.
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.
King James wording
King James Version
And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.THE KEY
Even “matters” are literally “words” here: what weighs on someone can be brought to those who are present to receive it.
THE MEANING
When one central voice steps away, a matter still has a route to people entrusted to meet it. Aaron and Hur remain reachable, and the person who has something to bring is invited to approach them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that access depends on one indispensable voice is undone: Aaron and Hur are there, and the person with a matter is told to come to them.
THE ROOT
דְּבָרִים
devarim
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak or utter; as a noun, a word, thing, or matter.
“holds a word” in this verse is devarim. The Hebrew devarim can mean both “words” and “matters,” where English gives the concern a more abstract name. The verse presents a matter as something that can be voiced and brought near to those ready to receive it.
ALSO GROWS
davar: A word, thing, or matter.
דָּבָר
This singular form shares the range of “words” and “matters,” joining what is said with the concern being brought forward.
dibber: Spoke; to speak.
דִּבֵּר
This verb grows from the same root, connecting the matter someone carries with the act of speaking it.
THE PATTERN
A community stays accessible when responsibility is entrusted to people who remain present to receive its matters.
And let them judge the people at all times; and it shall be that every great word they bring to you, but every small word they shall judge, so it will lighten from upon you, and they shall carry the burden with you.And the sent ones and elders came together to perceive about this word.THE THREAD
You shall not recognize faces in judgment; hear and respond to the small as well as the great; do not shrink from the face of man; for the judgment is God's; and the word that is too hard for you, draw it near to me, and I will hear and respond to it.The “cause” brought to Moses is דָּבָר (davar), meaning a word or matter, the same root behind Exodus’s “matters.” This verse opens the scene further: a concern can be brought near, and there is someone present to hear it.
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