What Does Joshua 10:3 Mean?
So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,
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
Wherefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,THE KEY
The root translated “sent” also means “release,” so the same force can draw rulers into action or loosen a grip.
THE MEANING
Power moves outward through a message: Adoni-zedek sends to four kings, extending Jerusalem’s reach into the affairs of four other cities. His name joins “my lord” to alignment, while Jerusalem carries the sense of wholeness; the verse sets those names beside one ruler’s act of sending. Right now, authority becomes visible in what its sending brings into motion.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁלַח
vayishlach
GROWS FROM
שלח
shalach
Send forth, extend outward, release or let go.
English “sent” can sound like a mere message, but שׁלח carries the action outward, extending the sender’s reach. The same root can also mean release, so its force depends on whether it draws others into motion or loosens a grip.
ALSO GROWS
shallaḥ: Send away; release.
שַׁלַּח
This form makes the root’s release sense plain, opening the same motion beyond a simple dispatch.
shaliaḥ: Messenger; envoy, one sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
The messenger carries the sender’s reach into another place, as Adoni-zedek’s message reaches four kings.
אֲדֹנִי־צֶדֶק
Adoni-tsedeq
GROWS FROM
צדק
ts-d-q
Be right or aligned; alignment.
Adoni-zedek joins “my lord” (adoni) to צֶדֶק (tsedeq, alignment). The name makes alignment a claim about authority, and the verse shows that authority through the way its bearer sends to other rulers.
ALSO GROWS
tsadaq: Be right; stand in alignment.
צָדַק
This verb makes alignment an action or condition, not merely a title.
tsedaqah: Alignment expressed in right action; righteousness or justice.
צְדָקָה
This branch brings the name’s claim into the realm of what authority does.
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
Be complete or whole.
“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim carries the sound and sense of shalom, wholeness, within the city’s name. The verse places that nature beside a ruler who sends beyond the city, connecting a name of wholeness with the reach of its authority.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness; well-being.
שָׁלוֹם
This is the wholeness carried in the name Yerushalayim.
shalem: Whole; complete.
שָׁלֵם
This branch shows the root’s sense of completeness beneath the city’s name.
THE PATTERN
A sending carries authority beyond its source by bringing other people into motion.
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were in Nob, and they all came to the king.And he called the twelve to himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over the unclean breaths.THE THREAD
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told the Great House, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may dance a feast to me in the wilderness.Joshua’s “sent” is וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayishlach), from שׁלח (shalach); Exodus uses that same root in “Let my people go.” The root can dispatch a summons or name release, placing the verse’s outward reach beside a movement that opens confinement.
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