What Does Deuteronomy 3:25 Mean in the King James?
I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
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
In this request, crossing is incomplete without sight: the far side is sought as a goodness to behold.
THE MEANING
Your longing can hold two movements at once: crossing a boundary and seeing what lies beyond it. The goodness is named for both the land and the mountain, so the far side is more than somewhere else; it is something to behold.
THE ROOT
אֶעְבְּרָה
eʿevrah
GROWS FROM
עבר
To cross over, pass through, or go beyond.
“go over” in this verse is eʿevrah. The request’s verb shares its root with words for “beyond” and “passage,” binding the crossing to the far side it approaches. English separates the movement from the destination; Hebrew lets them grow from one seed.
ALSO GROWS
ʿever: Beyond, across, or the other side.
עֵבֶר
It echoes the land “beyond Jordan,” tying the requested crossing to what lies across.
maʿavar: Passage or crossing.
מַעֲבָר
It makes the crossing a passage between sides, not merely motion in a direction.
וְאֶרְאֶה
veʾerʾeh
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see, look at, or perceive.
“see” in this verse is veʾerʾeh. The request pairs crossing with seeing: arriving is not the only desire; beholding belongs to it too. The root also appears in words for sight and for a seer, linking what is seen with the act of perception.
ALSO GROWS
marʾeh: Appearance or sight.
מַרְאֶה
It shows the root can name what comes into view as well as the act of seeing.
roʾeh: One who sees; a seer.
רֹאֶה
It gives the act of seeing a perceiver, emphasizing the one who beholds the land.
הַטּוֹבָה
haṭṭovah
GROWS FROM
טוב
Good, pleasing, or beneficial.
“good / goodly” in this verse is haṭṭovah. The same root describes the land and the mountain, so the verse repeats goodness across both. The destination is not only defined by where it is, but by the quality the speaker sees in it.
ALSO GROWS
tovah: Goodness; the feminine form of “good.”
טוֹבָה
It is the form used for the good land.
heitiv: To do good or make good.
הֵיטִיב
This verb form shows the root can describe goodness enacted, as well as goodness recognized.
THE PATTERN
A threshold carries the promise of what can be seen beyond it, even before it is fully received.
Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.THE THREAD
Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.Both verses use the root עבר (ʿavar, “cross over”) for going over the Jordan. The shared root makes the “beyond” an actual passage across, with the land on the other side in view.
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