What Does Deuteronomy 4:43 Mean in the King James?

Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

Deuteronomy 4:43 · 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

The first refuge named, Bezer, carries the sense of a fortified enclosure: protection is given a place.

THE MEANING

Here, refuge takes the form of named places set within particular landscapes and communities. Protection is made concrete and distributed across the terrain, rather than left as an abstraction.

THE ROOT

בֶּצֶר

Beṣer

GROWS FROM

בצר

To cut off, make inaccessible, or fortify.

The name Bezer is commonly associated with ⁨בצר⁩, a root that can describe making something inaccessible and, by extension, fortifying it. Its branches name both a fortified place and the condition of being fortified; beside the city’s role as refuge, the name suggests protection given a boundary and location.

ALSO GROWS

mivtsar: Fortress; fortified place.

מִבְצָר

This noun from ⁨בצר⁩ names a place made secure, echoing Bezer as a named destination of refuge.

batsur: Fortified; inaccessible.

בָּצוּר

This branch describes the protected state produced by fortification, bringing the root’s sense of defended enclosure into view.

THE PATTERN

Refuge becomes tangible when protection is given a reachable place.

And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge.

Numbers 35:13 · KJVProtection is assigned to particular cities that can serve as places of refuge.

The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

Proverbs 18:10 · KJVSafety is pictured as entering a strong place of shelter.

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Hebrews 6:18 · KJVHope is presented as a refuge one can flee toward and grasp.

THE THREAD

That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:

Deuteronomy 4:42 · KJV

This verse names the destinations; the next line shows their purpose: refuge is a place someone can reach, and reaching it preserves life. Bezer’s fortress-name makes the protective shape of the first destination audible.

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