What Does Judges 19:5 Mean?
And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to go away; and the young woman's father said to his son-in-law, Prop up your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go on your way.
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 on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.THE KEY
The father’s offer echoes Abraham’s welcome: the same Hebrew verb makes bread support the heart before the journey resumes.
THE MEANING
You are met at the threshold between rest and departure: a morsel of bread is named as support for the heart. Here care can nourish and delay at once; as the story unfolds, the repeated postponements lead into the concubine’s rape and death.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A warm offer of care guarantees a safe outcome.
THE ROOT
סְעָד
se'ad
GROWS FROM
סעד
To support, prop up, or sustain.
“Prop up your heart” in this verse is se'ad. The verb translated “comfort” describes giving the heart something to lean on. The same root appears when Scripture says bread strengthens the heart, joining the inner steadiness of the heart to the body’s nourishment.
ALSO GROWS
sa'ad: To support or sustain.
סָעַד
This is the root verb behind the father’s invitation: the bread is offered as something that props up the heart.
se'udah: A meal or feast.
סְעֻדָּה
This related word for a meal grows from the same support root, revealing food as what sustains.
THE PATTERN
Food can steady the heart and body for the road ahead.
And wine that gladdens the heart of a frail one, and oil to make his face shine, and bread that holds up the heart of a frail one.And he rose, and ate and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.Then Jesus called his disciples to himself and said, My insides turn toward the crowd, for they have remained with me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I will not send them away unfed, lest they come unstrung on the road.THE THREAD
And I will take a morsel of bread, and prop up your hearts. After that you shall pass on, for therefore you have crossed over to your servant. And they said, So you shall make it, as you have spoken.Abraham uses the same Hebrew verb, סעד (sa’ad), for sustaining the visitors’ hearts with a morsel of bread before they continue. The near-identical wording reveals a shared language of hospitality: bread supports the heart, then the road resumes.
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