What Does Deuteronomy 30:7 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
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 curses are not erased; their placement changes, from the pursued to the pursuers.
THE MEANING
When you are being pursued, this verse says the harm does not remain assigned to you: the LORD places these curses on those who hate and chase you. It names their hostility plainly and places its consequence under God’s judgment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the harm done to you must remain yours to carry while the people pursuing you bear no consequence.
THE ROOT
וְנָתַן
venatan
GROWS FROM
נתן
natan
give, set, place
The verb translated “put” also means “give” and “set.” The verse describes the curses as being assigned to a new bearer; their weight changes hands.
ALSO GROWS
natan: give, set, place
נָתַן
The verb carries both giving and placement, showing the curses being set upon someone.
mattanah: gift, present
מַתָּנָה
This noun from the same root shares the sense of something given; here what is given is judgment.
רְדָפוּךָ
redafukha
GROWS FROM
רדף
radaph
pursue, chase
“Persecuted” names an ongoing pursuit: these are people who keep coming after you. The verse places the curses upon the pursuers, making the chase, not your identity, the focus.
ALSO GROWS
radaph: pursue, chase
רָדַף
This is the verb used for the action translated “persecuted.”
rodef: one pursuing; a pursuer
רֹדֵף
The active form names the person doing the chasing, just as the verse identifies those who bear the curses.
הָאָלֹת
ha'alot
GROWS FROM
אלה
alah
oath, curse, solemn imprecation
“curses” in this verse is ha'alot. The Hebrew word for “curse” also carries the sense of an oath: a spoken, binding consequence. Here those consequences are gathered and placed upon the ones who hate and pursue you.
ALSO GROWS
alah: oath, solemn imprecation
אָלָה
The oath sense shows the binding force carried by the word translated “curse.”
alah: curse, imprecation
אָלָה
This is the singular form behind the plural “curses” in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Hostility directed at another is brought under judgment, and its consequences can fall back upon the aggressor.
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;THE THREAD
Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.The Hebrew root רדף (radaph), “pursue, chase,” appears here where the KJV says “hunt.” One root links being persecuted with being hunted, making the pursuit in Deuteronomy vivid; there, the pursuers are named as the ones who bear the curses.
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