What Does Deuteronomy 2:17 Mean in the King James?
That the LORD spake unto me, saying,
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
Hebrew marks both the act of speaking and the saying that follows, so this verse is a threshold where the address begins before its content unfolds.
THE MEANING
As you read, the LORD’s address meets you before the full message is clear: the speaking is already real, while the saying opens onward. You stand at the threshold where being addressed comes before knowing what follows.
THE ROOT
וַיְדַבֵּר
vayedabber
GROWS FROM
ד־ב־ר
d-b-r
To speak or utter; its related noun names a word, matter, or thing.
The verse uses dabar (דָּבָר, davar, “word” or “matter”) for the act of speaking. The root holds speaking close to the word or matter spoken, a connection English separates between “spake” and “word.”
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
This noun from the same root links speech with the matter carried by the words.
dibber: He spoke.
דִּבֵּר
This verb form makes the act of speaking explicit in the verse.
לֵאמֹר
lemor
GROWS FROM
א־מ־ר
ʾ-m-r
To say or utter.
“saying” in this verse is lemor. Lemor (לֵאמֹר, “to say”) introduces the words that come next. Paired with the verb from dabar (ד־ב־ר, “to speak”), it marks the shift from speech beginning to its content opening.
ALSO GROWS
omer: Utterance or speech.
אֹמֶר
This branch shows the root’s focus on what is uttered.
imrah: Saying or word.
אִמְרָה
This noun makes the spoken content itself visible behind the verse’s introductory formula.
THE PATTERN
Divine speech becomes encounter as it reaches a particular hearer.
And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:THE THREAD
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.The “word” here is davar (דָּבָר, davar, “word” or “matter”), from the same root as “spake” in Deuteronomy. Psalm 33:6 shows that word as active in making, so the speech introduced here belongs to a language where words carry what they bring forth.
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