What Does Deuteronomy 20:1 Mean in the King James?
When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
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 God beside you in the face of a larger force is the same God who already lifted you out of constriction.
THE MEANING
You see the horses, chariots, and greater numbers, and the LORD your God is with you now, the one who brought you up from Egypt’s constriction. The verse holds present danger and remembered deliverance together in one field of sight.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If the force against you is greater, you have been abandoned and the outcome already belongs to them.
THE ROOT
הַמַּעַלְךָ
hamma'alekha
GROWS FROM
עלה
Ascend; go up.
“brought thee up” in this verse is hamma'alekha. The verse names the exodus as an ascent out of narrowing. The one with you now is the one who has already lifted you out.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: to ascend, go up
עָלָה
The verb behind “brought thee up” makes deliverance an upward movement.
aliyah: ascent, going up
עֲלִיָּה
This branch keeps the verse’s image of being lifted into view.
מִצְרַיִם
Mitzrayim
GROWS FROM
צרר
Bind, press in, make narrow.
“Egypt” in this verse is Mitzrayim. The name Mitzrayim is read through tzar, “narrowness,” as the two narrows. The verse places the present threat beside the remembered ascent out of narrowing, making that deliverance part of what the reader sees now.
ALSO GROWS
tsar: narrow, tight
צַר
This branch gives the constriction image carried by the name.
tsarah: distress, trouble
צָרָה
Distress is the lived pressure of being pressed into a narrow place.
meitzar: a narrow place, strait
מֵצַר
This branch makes the narrow-place reading of Mitzrayim visible.
תִּירָא
tira
GROWS FROM
ירא
Fear; stand in awe.
“afraid” in this verse is tira. Here the fear is directed toward enemies, whose horses, chariots, and numbers remain plainly visible. The verse places that fear alongside the presence of the one who brought the reader up from Egypt.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: fear, awe
יִרְאָה
This noun carries the same root into the experience named by “afraid.”
nora: fearsome, awe-inspiring
נוֹרָא
This form shows the root’s range when the one regarded is awe-inspiring.
THE PATTERN
The presence of God meets visible threats with a larger ground for courage.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.THE THREAD
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.“Brought me up” uses the same root, עלה, as “brought thee up.” The ascent from Egypt appears here as a personal lifting from the pit, followed by feet set on a rock and steps made firm.
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