What Does Exodus 16:6 Mean in the King James?
And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
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 man named “drawn out” announces that the LORD has brought the people out of Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם, Mitsrayim, the constricting narrows), so release itself becomes the way the Deliverer is known.
THE MEANING
The verse meets the reader in an evening of uncertainty: the LORD has already brought them out of the narrow place, and recognition of who is carrying that release comes into view. Deliverance is a movement the reader can come to know from within. Moses, whose name means “drawn out,” echoes that movement in the messenger’s own name.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It overturns the belief that you must understand the way out before you can be released: here, knowing follows the LORD’s bringing out.
THE ROOT
הוֹצִיא
hotsi
GROWS FROM
יָצָא
yatsa
Go out, emerge, or exit.
The verse uses הוֹצִיא (hotsi), “caused to go out,” from יָצָא (yatsa), “go out.” Its word family holds both the going out and the exit itself; beside Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם, Mitsrayim, the constricting narrows), it lets “brought you out” carry the sense of release as well as movement from one place to another.
ALSO GROWS
yotse: One who goes out; going forth.
יוֹצֵא
The same root makes the person leaving part of the word’s picture, bringing the reader’s own movement into view.
yetzi’ah: An exit or departure.
יְצִיאָה
The exit is not separate from the act of going out; the verse presents release as a passage already underway.
וִידַעְתֶּם
viyda’tem
GROWS FROM
יָדַע
yada
Know, recognize, or perceive.
“know” in this verse is viyda’tem. The Hebrew word is more than holding a statement as information: it is knowing or recognizing. The verse places that recognition after the LORD’s bringing out, so the reader perceives the Deliverer through the release already taking place.
ALSO GROWS
da’at: Knowledge or understanding.
דַּעַת
This noun from the same root shows how knowing can name what has become clear to perception.
yadu’a: Known or recognized.
יָדוּעַ
Its passive form points to what has become recognizable; in this verse, the LORD’s act makes the source of deliverance known.
מֹשֶׁה
Mosheh
GROWS FROM
מָשָׁה
mashah
Draw out, especially from water.
Moses’ name is tied to the act of being drawn out. This is a different root from יָצָא (yatsa), “go out,” yet the two movements meet in the verse: the one named “drawn out” speaks of a people being brought out.
ALSO GROWS
va’emshēhu: I drew him out.
וָאֶמְשֵׁהוּ
This is the name’s own explanation in Exodus 2:10, giving Moses’ name the nature of rescue by being drawn out.
yimsheni: He drew me out.
יִמְשֵׁנִי
Psalm 18:16 uses the same root for being drawn out of many waters, echoing the movement from constriction to release.
THE PATTERN
Release from a constricting place becomes recognizable through the act that brings the reader out.
And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.THE THREAD
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.The phrase “brought thee out” uses the same root, יָצָא (yatsa, “go out”), as “brought you out” here. Exodus 16:6 places knowing after the act of release; Exodus 20:2 names that act as the LORD’s own work.
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