What Does Genesis 11:13 Mean?
And Arphaxad lived after he brought forth Salah four hundred and three years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
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 Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.THE KEY
The repeated “begat” comes from yalad, the root behind “generations”: this verse shows a life continuing through what it brings forth.
THE MEANING
Arphaxad lives for 403 years after Salah is born, and sons and daughters are brought forth during that time. The verse holds lived time and generativity together: a life is counted in years and in what continues through it.
THE ROOT
הוֹלִידוֹ
holido
GROWS FROM
ילד
to bear, bring forth, or beget
“brought forth” in this verse is holido. The Hebrew root behind “begat” also forms תּוֹלְדוֹת (toledot), “generations” or “family line.” A single act of begetting belongs to a larger movement of life continuing through generations.
ALSO GROWS
yeled: child
יֶלֶד
The same root names both bringing forth and the child brought forth.
toledot: generations, family line
תּוֹלְדוֹת
This branch makes the link between begetting and a life carried onward explicit.
שֶׁלַח
Shelach
GROWS FROM
שלח
to send, send forth, release
Shelach, rendered “Salah” here, carries the same consonants as שָׁלַח (shalach), “send forth” or “release.” The name echoes the verse’s movement of life onward, gathering the image of being brought forth with that of being sent forth.
ALSO GROWS
shalach: send, send forth, release
שָׁלַח
The name’s consonants echo this root’s sense of life moving onward.
shilleach: send away, dismiss
שִׁלֵּחַ
This branch shows the root’s related sense of releasing something to go its way.
THE PATTERN
Life continues beyond one person through what is brought forth and passed onward.
And the days of Adam after he brought forth Seth were eight hundred years, and he brought forth sons and daughters.We will not hide them from their children, recounting to the generation that follows the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonders that he has done.Truly, truly, I say to you. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.THE THREAD
And the days of Adam after he brought forth Seth were eight hundred years, and he brought forth sons and daughters.Both verses use forms of ילד (yalad), “bear” or “beget,” and repeat the phrase about sons and daughters. The shared root ties the count of years to the life brought forth within them.
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