What Does Deuteronomy 22:7 Mean in the King James?
But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.
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 verse permits taking the young, but commands that the mother be released: restraint is part of the taking.
THE MEANING
You may take the young, yet the mother must be sent away. The verse joins that limit to your good and to days made long; care reaches even into what you are allowed to take.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that permission to take something makes every kind of taking harmless.
THE ROOT
שַׁלֵּחַ תְּשַׁלַּח
shalleaḥ teshalleaḥ
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ח
sh-l-ḥ
To send, send away, or release.
“let the dam go” in this verse is shalleaḥ teshalleaḥ. The Hebrew repeats the verb in an emphatic construction: “you shall surely send her away.” Release is not a general refusal to take anything here; it is the boundary placed around taking the young.
ALSO GROWS
shaliaḥ: Messenger; one who is sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
The messenger carries the root’s sense of being sent forth, showing how release and sending share one word-family.
mishloaḥ: Sending or dispatch; also used for portions sent to others.
מִשְׁלוֹחַ
This branch keeps the motion of the root visible: what is sent away leaves the sender’s immediate grasp.
וְהַאֲרַכְתָּ
vehaʾarakhta
GROWS FROM
ארך
ʾ-r-k
To be long or make long; to lengthen.
“prolong” in this verse is vehaʾarakhta. The promise literally uses the language of lengthening: “you will lengthen days.” Its image of extended time follows a command that limits what may be taken from a living creature.
ALSO GROWS
ʾarokh: Long.
אָרֹךְ
The adjective shows the basic length-image carried by the promise of prolonged days.
ʾerekh appayim: Slow to flare.
אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם
The same root of length appears in a phrase for restraint, echoing the verse’s limit on taking.
THE PATTERN
The taking of life is bounded by regard for the living beings within reach.
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?THE THREAD
And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.“Let my people go” uses the same root, ש־ל־ח (sh-l-ḥ), as the command to send the mother bird away. In both verses, release means letting a living being leave the grip of the one who holds it.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us