What Does Genesis 26:13 Mean?
And the man grew great, and walked on, and grew, until he became very great.
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 the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:THE KEY
The verse makes greatness a motion: he keeps going and growing until his increase becomes unmistakable.
THE MEANING
Growth unfolds through continuing movement, and greatness emerges along the way. The life that keeps advancing is already growing before it reaches its fullest measure.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that only a finished arrival counts as growth dissolves here: becoming is already real increase.
THE ROOT
וַיִּגְדַּל
vayigdal
GROWS FROM
גדל
To grow, become great, or enlarge.
“grew great” in this verse is vayigdal. The verse rings the root גדל (gadal, to grow or become great) three times: he grows, is still growing, and becomes very great. English uses several verbs, while Hebrew keeps one seed audible, making the line one continuous expansion.
ALSO GROWS
gadol: Great, large.
גָּדוֹל
The adjective shares the verse’s growth-root, holding greatness and growing in the same family.
higdil: To enlarge or make great.
הִגְדִּיל
This form shows the root as an active increase, echoing the verse’s movement toward greater measure.
migdal: Tower.
מִגְדָּל
The tower is a built form of height and enlargement, giving the root’s sense of growing large a concrete shape.
וַיֵּלֶךְ הָלוֹךְ
vayelekh halokh
GROWS FROM
הלך
To go or walk; in this phrase, to keep going.
“walked on” in this verse is vayelekh halokh. The wording doubles the motion: וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayelekh, he went) is followed by הָלוֹךְ (halokh, going). Beside גדל (gadal, to grow or become great), that repeated motion makes advancement and increase one ongoing process.
ALSO GROWS
halakh: To go or walk.
הָלַךְ
This is the basic motion at the heart of “went forward,” the movement that accompanies the verse’s growth.
holekh: Going or walking; one who goes.
הֹלֵךְ
This continuing form appears in the close parallel about Samuel, joining going and growing in the same phrase.
THE PATTERN
In Scripture, growth unfolds through sustained increase, with life advancing by stages rather than appearing complete at once.
And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.The aligned one blooms like the palm tree; he grows tall like the cedar in Lebanon.And the child grew, and grew strong in breath, being filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.THE THREAD
And the child Samuel walked and grew, and was good both with the LORD and also with men.The Hebrew uses the same paired roots: הֹלֵךְ (holekh, going or walking) and וְגָדֵל (vegadel, growing or becoming great). That shared phrasing reveals that “went forward and grew” is a single movement of continued advance.
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