What Does Exodus 10:23 Mean in the King James?
They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
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
Darkness can stop sight and movement without extinguishing the light present in a dwelling.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two realities together: a person can lose sight of others and remain unable to rise, while light is still present in a dwelling. Darkness does not fill every place; the text names a place where light remains.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that when darkness closes in, light must be absent everywhere.
THE ROOT
אוֹר
ʾor
GROWS FROM
א־ו־ר
ʾ-w-r
To be light or shine; the root names both light and the action of shining.
The Hebrew word family names light itself and also a luminary and the act of shining. Light remains locatable in the dwellings even while sight and movement fail elsewhere.
ALSO GROWS
he'ir: to shine, illuminate
הֵאִיר
This verb from the same root makes light an active presence, not only a condition of the landscape.
ma'or: luminary, light-bearing body
מָאוֹר
This branch shows that the root names both light and something that bears or gives light.
בְּמֹשְׁבֹתָם
bemoshevotam
GROWS FROM
י־ש־ב
y-sh-b
To sit, remain, or dwell.
“dwellings” in this verse is bemoshevotam. The light is located in lived-in places: מוֹשָׁב (moshav, dwelling or seat) grows from יָשַׁב (yashav, sit or dwell). That root echoes the contrast with people unable to rise from where they are.
ALSO GROWS
yashav: to sit, remain, dwell
יָשַׁב
The root carries the sense of staying in a place, sharpening the verse’s contrast between being unable to rise and having light where one lives.
moshav: dwelling, seat
מוֹשָׁב
This related noun locates the light in a place of habitation rather than leaving it as a distant or general brightness.
רָאוּ
ra'u
GROWS FROM
ר־א־ה
r-ʾ-h
To see, look, or behold.
The root also appears in מַרְאֶה (mar’eh, appearance) and רֹאֶה (ro’eh, seer). “They saw not one another” names a loss of mutual visibility, and the light at the verse’s close answers that exact condition without claiming that every place is lit.
ALSO GROWS
mar'eh: appearance, sight
מַרְאֶה
This branch links seeing to what can be seen, making the verse’s blocked sight more than a vague description of darkness.
ro'eh: seer, one who sees
רֹאֶה
This branch names the one who sees, underscoring the human perception absent from the opening of the verse.
THE PATTERN
Light remains a distinct, present reality in darkness rather than waiting for darkness to vanish.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.THE THREAD
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.אוֹר (ʾor, light) is the same Hebrew word in both verses. Genesis names light as distinct from darkness; here that distinction becomes inhabitable, with light present in dwellings while sight and movement fail elsewhere.
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