What Does Deuteronomy 2:36 Mean in the King James?
From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us:
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 cities called “too strong” are literally beyond reach, yet the verse says they are placed into the people’s hand.
THE MEANING
The verse presents the cities as fully conquered: none stands too high or fortified to withstand, and all is given into the people’s hand. Its claim is total possession within a military passage; the violence in that sweep remains visible. The wording names the LORD as giver and the people as recipients.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A city’s height or defenses can place it permanently beyond reach.
THE ROOT
שָׂגְבָה
sagvah
GROWS FROM
שגב
s-g-b
Be high, exalted, or inaccessible.
The Hebrew behind “too strong” carries a picture of height and inaccessibility: a city raised beyond reach. The same root names a high refuge, so height can mark either a formidable stronghold or a place of shelter; here, it does not make the cities unassailable.
ALSO GROWS
misgav: High place, refuge, or stronghold.
מִשְׂגָּב
This is the high place as shelter; it echoes the city’s elevation while showing that the same quality can offer refuge.
siggev: Raise high, exalt, or set on high.
שִׂגֵּב
This verb makes the root’s image active: what is high can be lifted up, just as the cities’ height marks what seems beyond reach.
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
Give, set, or place.
Where KJV says “delivered,” the Hebrew uses נתן, “give.” The verse pictures the outcome as placement into a hand: the LORD is named as giver, and the people as recipients.
ALSO GROWS
mattan: Gift or present.
מַתָּן
A gift is something given; this branch keeps the verse’s transfer concrete.
mattanah: Gift or portion.
מַתָּנָה
The cities are described as given over to the people, making this branch’s sense of a granted portion resonate with the verse.
THE PATTERN
Scripture pictures a human reach over territory or authority as something God first places into a recipient’s hand.
And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.THE THREAD
And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.Both verses use the Hebrew root נתן (natan, give, set, place) for what KJV phrases as delivery into a hand. The repeated image names the transfer as God’s act of giving, while Exodus states the dispossession just as plainly.
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