What Does Deuteronomy 31:25 Mean in the King James?
That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
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 covenant takes the form of a carried trust, and its bearers receive the command before its next instruction is spoken.
THE MEANING
The covenant reaches you here as something carried: the ark has named bearers. The command meets its carriers before the instruction unfolds, holding you at the threshold of what is entrusted.
THE ROOT
נֹשְׂאֵי
nosei
GROWS FROM
נשא
to lift, carry, or bear
“bare” in this verse is nosei. English renders this as a past action, while the Hebrew calls them carriers of the ark, a role defined by bearing. The same root gives words for a burden and a leader, joining entrusted weight with an assigned place.
ALSO GROWS
massa: burden, load
מַשָּׂא
The root makes the ark’s carrying tangible: what is entrusted can have weight.
nasi: leader, prince; one raised up
נָשִׂיא
This branch links bearing with an appointed role, illuminating the Levites as more than incidental carriers.
THE PATTERN
A sacred trust becomes present through people appointed to carry it.
Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:THE THREAD
And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.The Hebrew root נשא (nasa, to carry or bear) names the Levites as carriers of the ark and appears again when God says, I will carry you. The direction turns: the bearers of the covenant are themselves carried.
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