What Does Deuteronomy 11:31 Mean in the King James?
For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
What is given becomes lived through crossing into it: possession ends in dwelling.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks to the threshold between receiving a promise and inhabiting it. You cross into what is given, take possession of it, and dwell there; gift and lived reality meet in one movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that receiving something means it is already inhabited: the gift still has a crossing and a settling.
THE ROOT
יָרַשׁ
yarash
GROWS FROM
ירש
To take possession, inherit, or dispossess.
The verse repeats this root for both going in to possess the land and possessing it. The same root can name inheritance and dispossession, so the gift carries the force of taking land, not merely receiving something weightless.
ALSO GROWS
yerushah: Inheritance or possession
יְרֻשָּׁה
This noun holds together what is received as an inheritance and what becomes one’s possession.
morashah: Heritage or inherited possession
מוֹרָשָׁה
It extends the root beyond a moment of acquisition to what is held as an inheritance.
עֹבְרִים
ʿovrim
GROWS FROM
עבר
To cross, pass through, or go beyond.
“pass over” in this verse is ʿovrim. The promise takes the form of a boundary crossed: the people are moving toward the land, not merely standing near it. This root makes entry part of the promise’s shape.
ALSO GROWS
ʿever: Beyond or across
עֵבֶר
The word names the far side toward which crossing moves.
maʿavar: A crossing or passage
מַעֲבָר
This branch makes the threshold itself visible as a passage between places.
וִישַׁבְתֶּם
viyashavtem
GROWS FROM
ישב
To sit, remain, or dwell.
“dwell” in this verse is viyashavtem. The movement does not end at entry or possession; it ends in staying there. The root’s sense of sitting gives dwelling the texture of settled presence.
ALSO GROWS
moshav: Dwelling, seat, or settlement
מוֹשָׁב
This branch connects dwelling with a settled place to occupy.
yoshev: One who sits or dwells
יֹשֵׁב
The root describes not only the place but the person who remains in it.
THE PATTERN
A promise moves from gift to lived possession through entry into the place it names.
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.THE THREAD
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.Genesis uses the same ירש root in “inherit” that Deuteronomy uses in “possess.” Together they hold the gift and the act of entering into its possession in the same word.
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