What Does Genesis 21:22 Mean?
And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol, the captain of his host, spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with you in all that you do.
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 it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:THE KEY
God’s presence is named across the whole field of your doing, so the work itself becomes a place where that presence is recognized.
THE MEANING
God is with you through the whole range of what you do; the verse places divine presence in the field of action. That presence can be recognized by someone beyond your own point of view, in the pattern of your life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that God is present only in explicitly religious moments.
THE ROOT
עֹשֶׂה
ʿoseh
GROWS FROM
עשה
ʿasah
To do, make, or bring about.
“doest” in this verse is ʿoseh. The verse names God’s presence alongside the whole field of making and doing. The related noun for work or deed keeps that action audible: presence and work belong in the same sentence.
ALSO GROWS
maʿaseh: Work, deed, or act.
מַעֲשֶׂה
This noun carries the same root into the completed work or deed, joining God’s presence to what you do.
ʿasiyyah: Action or doing.
עֲשִׂיָּה
This form keeps the root’s sense of ongoing activity visible in the verse’s phrase “all that thou doest.”
THE PATTERN
Divine presence accompanies the full range of human movement and action.
And the LORD is the one who goes before your face. He will be with you. He will not release you, nor leave you. Do not fear, and do not be shattered.Teaching them to guard all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age. Amen.And whatever you do, in word or in work, do all in the nature of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.THE THREAD
And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did break through in his hand.Both verses use עשה (ʿasah, to do or make) for the full scope of activity and pair that doing with God’s presence. Genesis 39:3 extends the picture: work done in that presence is described as prospering in his hand.
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