What Does Exodus 1:3 Mean in the King James?
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
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
These names carry three meanings beneath their labels: recompense, dwelling, and the strength of the right hand.
THE MEANING
Your name can hold more than a label: this verse carries recompense, the longing for a place to dwell, and the strength of the right hand. Identity has texture even before the next action is named.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A name is only a label with nothing of a person’s nature inside it.
THE ROOT
בִּנְיָמִין
Binyamin
GROWS FROM
ימן
y-m-n
Right hand or right side, associated with strength and favor.
“Benjamin” in this verse is Binyamin. The name joins בֵּן (ben, “son”) to יָמִין (yāmîn, “right hand”), naming a child by the place of strength at one’s right side. Genesis 35:18 sets it beside בֶּן־אוֹנִי (Ben-oni, “son of my sorrow”), so the name carries a different nature without making the grief disappear.
ALSO GROWS
yāmîn: Right hand; right side.
יָמִין
This is the part of Benjamin that gives the name its image of strength at the right hand.
tēmān: South.
תֵּימָן
The south is named from the right-hand direction when facing east, extending the root’s sense of orientation.
זְבֻלוּן
Zebulun
GROWS FROM
זבל
z-b-l
To dwell with or honor; a dwelling or exalted abode.
“Zebulun” in this verse is Zebulun. The name is linked with Leah’s phrase about her husband dwelling with her. Its sound and root leave the name carrying both habitation and the desire to be held in regard.
ALSO GROWS
zābal: To dwell with; to honor.
זָבַל
Leah’s naming line connects Zebulun to the hope that her husband will dwell with her.
zebul: Dwelling; exalted abode.
זְבוּל
This branch lets the name hold a place of habitation, not merely a person’s label.
יִשָּׂשכָר
Yissakhar
GROWS FROM
שכר
ś-k-r
To hire or reward; wages and recompense.
“Issachar” in this verse is Yissakhar. The name is paired in its naming verse with שָׂכָר (sākār, “wages” or “recompense”), so labor and its return are carried inside the name. The same root names both recompense and the hired person, joining what is earned to the one who works.
ALSO GROWS
sākār: Wages; recompense.
שָׂכָר
This is the word Leah uses when she explains Issachar’s name.
śākîr: A hired person; a hireling.
שָׂכִיר
The branch names the person whose labor is tied to the root’s wages and recompense.
THE PATTERN
A name can carry an identity that the words around it unfold.
And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.THE THREAD
And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.Rachel names him בֶּן־אוֹנִי (Ben-oni, “son of my sorrow”) as she is dying; his father names him בִּנְיָמִין (Binyamin, “son of the right hand”). The Benjamin in this list carries that naming forward without removing the grief at its beginning.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us