What Does Deuteronomy 2:22 Mean in the King James?
As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:
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 Hebrew word behind “succeeded” can mean both to take possession and to dispossess, so the new dwelling carries the story of who was driven out.
THE MEANING
The verse holds the transfer starkly: the Horims are destroyed, and Esau’s descendants dwell in their place. The word rendered “succeeded” holds possession together with dispossession, so the passage does not let inheritance read as a clean handoff. The displaced people remain visible in the account of those who take their place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
What I receive when possession changes carries no trace of whoever was displaced.
THE ROOT
וַיִּירָשׁוּם
vayirashum
GROWS FROM
יָרַשׁ
yarash
To take possession, inherit, or dispossess.
“succeeded them” in this verse is vayirashum. The English “succeeded” can sound like a simple change of occupants; yarash holds possession together with dispossession and inheritance. The same root names the new dwelling and the removal that makes room for it.
ALSO GROWS
morashah: Inheritance, possession
מוֹרָשָׁה
This branch names what is received; in this verse, possession follows the removal of the former inhabitants.
horish: To dispossess, drive out, or cause to inherit
הוֹרִישׁ
This causative branch names the other side of the transfer: one people inherit as another is driven out.
THE PATTERN
Scripture repeatedly exposes possession as a transfer shaped by dispossession, violence, or the removal of prior inhabitants.
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;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.Both passages use yarash: Deuteronomy says Esau’s descendants “succeeded” the Horims, while Genesis speaks of the land as something to “inherit.” The shared root places the promise of possession beside the concrete transfer this verse names.
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