What Does Genesis 14:5 Mean?
And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings who were with him, and struck down the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim.
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 in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,THE KEY
One Hebrew strike verb carries the coalition from people to people, turning a single year marker into a campaign of repeated blows.
THE MEANING
You see an alliance striking the Rephaim, Zuzim, and Emim across three named places. The peoples remain visible as targets, and the place names locate the harm without blurring it into a general victory report.
THE ROOT
וַיַּכּוּ
vayyakku
GROWS FROM
נכה
n-k-h
to strike, hit, or smite
“struck down” in this verse is vayyakku. The verb names the direct act of striking, not an abstract idea of conquest. Its noun branch מַכָּה (makkah, a blow or plague) carries the same impact into an event or wound; here the verb marks what the coalition does to each people.
ALSO GROWS
makkah: a blow; a plague
מַכָּה
The noun carries the root’s strike into the resulting impact, keeping the force concrete.
hukkah: he or it was struck
הֻכָּה
This passive form shows the same root from the struck one’s side, matching the named peoples in the verse.
אֵמִים
ʾEmim
GROWS FROM
א־י־ם
ʾ-y-m
terror, dread; being terrifying
“Emims” in this verse is ʾEmim. The name Emim is traditionally connected with the Hebrew word-family of terror and dread. Deuteronomy 2:10 describes these people as great, numerous, and tall, so the name carries the sound of dread even as this verse records the blows they receive.
ALSO GROWS
ʾeimah: terror, dread
אֵימָה
This related noun makes audible the fear carried by the name Emim.
ʾayom: terrifying, dreadful
אָיֹם
This related adjective describes what inspires dread, echoing the force of the people-name.
THE PATTERN
Scripture keeps the force of a blow visible by naming the one who strikes and the people or body that receives it.
And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings who were with him, and struck down the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim.Surely he has borne our sicknesses, and carried our wounds. Yet we reckoned him struck, beaten by God, and bowed low.Then Jesus said to them, All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night; for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered apart.THE THREAD
Surely he has borne our sicknesses, and carried our wounds. Yet we reckoned him struck, beaten by God, and bowed low.Genesis’s וַיַּכּוּ (vayyakku, they struck) and Isaiah’s מֻכֵּה (mukkeh, smitten) come from the same Hebrew root נכה (nakah, to strike). One verse names a coalition’s blows against peoples; the other names a figure seen as struck, leaving the physical force present in both.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us