What Does Deuteronomy 14:29 Mean in the King James?
And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.
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
The harvest of your hands becomes blessing as the people at your gate eat until they are full.
THE MEANING
This verse says a shared table is whole when the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow can eat until they have enough. The LORD’s blessing meets the work of your hands through that provision, binding the fruit of your labor to whether others are satisfied.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that productivity alone proves your work is blessed dissolves here: the blessing is tied to a harvest that makes room for others to be satisfied.
THE ROOT
וְשָׂבֵעוּ
vesāveʿū
GROWS FROM
שׂבע
To be full, sated, to have enough.
English “satisfied” can sound like a feeling, but this root names reaching fullness. The verse measures care by whether people are actually fed enough, not merely invited to the table.
ALSO GROWS
sāvēaʿ: Sated, full.
שָׂבֵעַ
It makes clear that the people receive enough to be full.
sōvaʿ: Satiety, fullness.
שֹׂבַע
It names the fullness the shared meal is meant to produce.
יְבָרֶכְךָ
yevarekhekha
GROWS FROM
ברך
To bless; the related noun בֶּרֶךְ (berekh) means knee.
“bless” in this verse is yevarekhekha. The same consonants hold blessing and knee together, giving blessing a bodily resonance of bending or honoring. Here, blessing is joined to the work of your hands as its yield becomes food for the people at your gate.
ALSO GROWS
berekh: Knee.
בֶּרֶךְ
This related word gives the root’s blessing sense a bodily resonance of bending.
berakhah: Blessing.
בְּרָכָה
It names the blessing that follows the work of the hands in this verse.
THE PATTERN
A community’s abundance reaches its purpose when its most exposed people receive enough.
When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.THE THREAD
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.The Hebrew verb translated “satisfieth” comes from the same root, שׂבע (s-b-ʿ, to be full or satisfied), as “be satisfied” in this verse. Deuteronomy locates that fullness in a shared meal at the gate; the psalm names the same fullness as God’s answer to longing and hunger.
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