What Does Deuteronomy 3:2 Mean in the King James?

And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

Deuteronomy 3:2 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Beneath “deliver” is ⁨נתן⁩ (natan, give, set, place): the feared king, his people, and his land are described as already placed into the addressed hand.

THE MEANING

The verse places fear beside an announced handoff: the king, his people, and his land are given into the addressed hand. The assurance carries a violent command, to do to Og as was done to Sihon, and the verse keeps that conquest in plain view.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A feared opponent still controls the outcome.

THE ROOT

נָתַתִּי

natatti

GROWS FROM

נתן

n-t-n

To give, set, or place.

The Hebrew form ⁨נָתַתִּי⁩ (natatti, “I have given”) carries the root ⁨נתן⁩ (natan, “give, set, place”). That gives “deliver” the shape of a handoff into a hand, while the next clause keeps the violence of conquest fully visible.

ALSO GROWS

natan: To give, set, or place.

נָתַן

This is the root itself: the king and his people are placed into the addressed hand.

mattanah: A gift; a thing given.

מַתָּנָה

This noun from the same root makes the shared idea of giving visible, though the verse describes a transfer into power, not a gift to celebrate.

THE PATTERN

A command not to fear is grounded in an announced handoff of what the hearer cannot control.

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

Deuteronomy 2:24 · KJVThe promised handoff into a hand leads directly to battle and possession, exposing the violent force of this pattern.

Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

Acts 27:24 · KJVHere the announced giving concerns the people aboard, whose lives are preserved through the danger rather than taken in battle.

THE THREAD

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

Deuteronomy 2:24 · KJV

This verse uses the same handoff language for Sihon before naming Og in the present passage. Both draw on ⁨נתן⁩ (natan, give, set, place), and both connect that transfer to battle and possession.

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