What Does Exodus 14:15 Mean in the King James?

And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

Exodus 14:15 · 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.

THE KEY

The command “go forward” also carries the sense of setting out, so departure begins before the sea parts.

THE MEANING

You can meet a boundary that looks impassable; the word reaches that point as a call to set out. Movement begins while the opening is still ahead.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that a visible route must come before any real movement.

THE ROOT

וְיִסָּעוּ

wəyissāʿū

GROWS FROM

נ־ס־ע

n-s-ʿ

To set out, depart on a journey.

“go forward” in this verse is wəyissāʿū. The root names departure itself: the people are to leave the place where they are stopped. The passage from blockage begins with setting out, before the sea opens into a visible path.

ALSO GROWS

nāsaʿ: To set out, depart, or travel.

נָסַע

This verb makes “go forward” a concrete departure, not merely a direction on a map.

massāʿ: A journey or stage of a journey.

מַסָּע

This related noun presents departure as a passage actually traveled.

דַּבֵּר

dabber

GROWS FROM

ד־ב־ר

d-b-r

To speak; the same root also names a word or matter.

“speak” in this verse is dabber. The root holds speech and matter together: what is spoken can concern the concrete thing at hand. Here, the word is a direction that meets the people in their blocked movement.

ALSO GROWS

dibber: He spoke or addressed.

דִּבֵּר

This verb names the act of speaking that brings the direction into the moment.

dābār: A word, matter, or thing.

דָּבָר

The shared root connects spoken direction with the matter it addresses: the people’s next movement.

THE PATTERN

A passage can begin with a step while the way through is still closed.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Hebrews 11:8 · KJVAbraham goes out without knowing the destination, so departure begins before the full route is visible.

And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

Joshua 3:15-16 · KJVThe priests’ feet enter the overflowing Jordan before its waters stop, and passage follows their step.

And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

John 9:7 · KJVThe man goes to the pool and washes before he returns seeing; movement comes before its result.

THE THREAD

And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.

Numbers 9:17 · KJV

The word rendered “journeyed” comes from the same root as “go forward” here: to set out on a journey. In Numbers the cloud’s movement marks departure; in Exodus the spoken command marks departure before the sea opens.

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