What Does Genesis 14:7 Mean?
And they turned back, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and struck all the field of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who settled in Hazezontamar.
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 they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar.THE KEY
Their return brings them to a place with two names: En-mishpat, “spring of judgment,” is Kadesh, “set apart”, judgment and separation held together in one place.
THE MEANING
You encounter a return that leads straight into violence: the force reaches En-mishpat, also called Kadesh, then strikes the whole country of the Amalekites and the Amorites dwelling in Hazezon-tamar. The verse places the name “Spring of Judgment” beside the blunt fact of the blow without softening what happens.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A return does not guarantee restoration; here, those who return go on to strike the land and its inhabitants.
THE ROOT
מִשְׁפָּט
mishpat
GROWS FROM
שׁפט
sh-p-t
To judge, decide, or govern.
En-mishpat combines עֵין (ʿein, spring) with מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, judgment), giving “spring of judgment.” The verse then identifies that place as Kadesh, holding judgment and setting apart together in one name-bearing location.
ALSO GROWS
shaphat: To judge or decide a case.
שָׁפַט
This is the action at the root of the “judgment” named in En-mishpat.
shofet: A judge or one who adjudicates.
שֹׁפֵט
This branch shows judgment as an active role, not only an abstract idea.
קָדֵשׁ
qadesh
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
To set apart or consecrate.
Kadesh carries the idea of being set apart. Since the verse says En-mishpat “is Kadesh,” the place’s name gathers the language of judgment and setting apart into one location.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart.
קָדוֹשׁ
This adjective makes explicit the quality carried by the place-name Kadesh.
miqdash: Sanctuary, a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
This branch shows how the root can describe a place marked as set apart.
וַיַּכּוּ
vayyakku
GROWS FROM
נכה
n-k-h
To strike or inflict a blow.
“struck” in this verse is vayyakku. The verse names a striking, not merely a victory: it says what is done to the Amalekite country and the Amorites at Hazezon-tamar. The same root family includes words for a blow or plague, keeping the violence visible in the language.
ALSO GROWS
hikkah: He struck or smote.
הִכָּה
This verb form makes the root’s action plain: a direct blow is inflicted.
makkah: A blow, wound, or plague.
מַכָּה
This noun carries the same striking into its result, showing the harm that a blow leaves behind.
THE PATTERN
A name can compress the nature or defining encounter of a person or place.
And he called the name of that place Bethel, house of God; but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.And he called the name of the place Massah, the testing, and Meribah, the striving, because of the striving of the children of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, Is the LORD in our midst, or not?And he led him to Jesus. And Jesus, fixing his gaze on him, said, You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas, the rock.THE THREAD
And he judges the world in alignment; he pleads the case of the peoples in straightness.Genesis 14:7 places מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, judgment) in En-mishpat’s name; Psalm 9:8 uses the same שפט (sh-p-t) root for judging and judgment. It lets the place-name resonate as an active word, while Genesis keeps the violence at that place in full view.
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