What Does Deuteronomy 6:22 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:
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
Egypt’s name carries the image of two narrows, and the signs make that constriction visible before the witnesses’ eyes.
THE MEANING
You stand among the witnesses: the LORD’s signs bring the reach of constricting power, Egypt, Pharaoh, and his household, into view. The verse holds that no ruler’s grasp is beyond the sight and action of God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief that a ruler’s power is absolute and can never be exposed or answered.
THE ROOT
מִצְרַיִם
Mitzrayim
GROWS FROM
צרר
To bind, press, or confine; it carries the sense of narrowing expressed in tsar.
Mitzrayim is read as the two narrows, so Egypt names constriction as well as a place. With Pharaoh and his household named within it, the signs expose that grip as visible and answerable.
ALSO GROWS
tsar: Narrow, constricted
צַר
This is the narrowness carried in Egypt’s name.
metzar: A strait or narrow place
מֵצַר
It gives the image of a life pressed into tightness that the signs bring into view.
Mitzrayim: Egypt; read as the two narrows
מִצְרַיִם
The name gathers the verse’s setting into the image of constriction.
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place.
The Hebrew verb beneath “shewed” is natan, “gave”: the signs are placed before the witnesses as something they receive. The verse makes revelation a shared, visible witness.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place
נָתַן
Here the LORD gives signs and wonders into the witnesses’ sight.
mattanah: A gift
מַתָּנָה
The related word shows how giving can name something received.
netinah: A giving or grant
נְתִינָה
It echoes the act of placing something into another’s hands.
THE PATTERN
God’s action becomes visible through deeds that expose domination and give witnesses something to see.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:THE THREAD
Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?This verse repeats “signs and wonders” and “before your eyes,” then names the signs as part of being brought out of Egypt. It opens this verse further: what stands before your eyes is a visible trace of release from the narrow.
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