What Does Exodus 12:45 Mean in the King James?
A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
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 verse closes the table to two forms of nearness: residence and paid service do not themselves grant a share in the meal.
THE MEANING
The verse names a real boundary: the foreign resident and the hired worker do not eat from this meal. A person may live among the household or serve it for wages without sharing the meal’s covenant belonging.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that proximity to a covenant household, or usefulness to it, automatically grants a place at its table.
THE ROOT
תּוֹשָׁב
toshav
GROWS FROM
י־ש־ב
y-sh-b
sit, dwell, remain
The word translated “foreigner” names a resident: someone who dwells among the people. Its root is the ordinary act of sitting or settling, so the verse distinguishes living in the household’s space from being admitted to its meal.
ALSO GROWS
yashav: to sit, dwell, or remain
יָשַׁב
The verb shows the root’s basic sense: the foreign resident is someone who stays among the household.
moshav: a seat, dwelling, or settlement
מוֹשָׁב
This branch links the word to a settled place, sharpening the distinction between having a place nearby and sharing the meal.
שָׂכִיר
sakhir
GROWS FROM
ש־כ־ר
sh-k-r
hire, employ, or pay wages
“hired servant” in this verse is sakhir. This word names a worker whose place is defined by hire. Together, the two terms span residence and labor: neither being there nor serving there grants the right to eat.
ALSO GROWS
sakar: to hire or employ
שָׂכַר
This verb makes the hired worker’s relationship one of paid service.
sakar: wages or reward
שָׂכָר
This noun reveals the exchange behind the servant’s role: work is paid, but payment does not establish participation in the meal.
THE PATTERN
A covenant meal makes belonging visible by defining who may share it and on what terms.
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.THE THREAD
There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.The same pair appears here: תּוֹשָׁב (toshav, resident) and שָׂכִיר (sakhir, hired worker). Their repeated pairing reveals the distinction in Exodus more sharply: residence and paid work can bring someone near the sacred household without making that person a participant.
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