What Does Genesis 50:8 Mean?
And all the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
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 all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.THE KEY
The Hebrew verb for “left” can also mean “forsake,” so a practical separation carries the shadow of abandonment without declaring it.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two movements together: Joseph’s kin go, while their little ones and herds remain in Goshen. The word for “left” can also mean “forsake,” but the verse states where they remain without saying they are abandoned.
THE ROOT
עָזְבוּ
ʿāzvû
GROWS FROM
עזב
ʿ-z-b
To leave or depart; also to forsake or abandon.
“left” in this verse is ʿāzvû. The same Hebrew verb can describe a change of location or the severing of a relationship. Here it names who remains behind and where, while leaving their care or abandonment unstated.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāzav: To leave or forsake.
עָזַב
Deuteronomy 31:6 uses this verb in “nor forsake thee,” showing its relational force.
ʿazûvāh: Forsaken; abandoned.
עֲזוּבָה
Isaiah 62:4 uses this related form for what is explicitly named forsaken, making clear how the root can carry more than physical departure.
THE PATTERN
The Hebrew root עזב can describe literal departure or relational forsaking; the surrounding words reveal which force is present.
Hold fast and be firm. Do not fear, and do not quake before them. For the LORD your God is the one who walks with you. He will not release you, nor leave you.You shall no more be called Left Behind, and your land shall no more be called Stunned; but you shall be called Hephzibah, my delight is in her, and your land Beulah, wedded; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be wed.Let your way of living be without the love of silver, and let what is at hand be enough, for he has said, I will never let go of you, nor leave you behind.THE THREAD
Hold fast and be firm. Do not fear, and do not quake before them. For the LORD your God is the one who walks with you. He will not release you, nor leave you.Genesis uses עָזְבוּ (ʿāzvû, “they left”), and Deuteronomy uses the same root in “nor forsake thee.” The shared word can hold both physical separation and relational abandonment, while each verse shows which meaning its sentence names.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us