What Does Exodus 17:11 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
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 same verb says both Israel and Amalek “grow strong,” so the advantage is not fixed; it turns with what is held aloft.
THE MEANING
Moses, מֹשֶׁה (Mōšeh), “drawn out”, holds his hand up, and Israel prevails; when he lets it settle, Amalek prevails. In the struggle before you, the verse shows how an outcome can shift with what is held up and sustained.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Greater force alone does not fix who prevails; here, the advantage changes as Moses’ hand rises or settles.
THE ROOT
יָרִים
yārîm
GROWS FROM
רום
רום (rûm) means to rise, be high, or exalt.
“held up” in this verse is yārîm. The verb יָרִים (yārîm) means “he raises,” from רום, the root of rising and height. The narrative makes the hand’s elevation coincide with Israel’s strength.
ALSO GROWS
rām: High, exalted.
רָם
This branch makes the hand’s raised position part of the root’s sense of height.
terûmāh: A raised portion or contribution.
תְּרוּמָה
This word carries the same idea of something lifted up, echoing the hand’s consequential elevation.
יָנִיחַ
yānîaḥ
GROWS FROM
נוח
נוח (nûaḥ) means to rest or settle; in this verb form, to cause to rest or set down.
The verb translated “let down” carries the sense of setting the hand to rest. The verse places a hand at rest against a hand held aloft, and the advantage shifts with that change.
ALSO GROWS
nāḥ: Rested, settled.
נָח
It shows the root’s basic sense of coming to rest, which colors the hand’s lowered state.
menûḥāh: Rest, repose.
מְנוּחָה
The same root names rest as a condition; here the hand’s settling coincides with Amalek prevailing.
וְגָבַר
wəgāḇar
GROWS FROM
גבר
גבר (gābar) means to grow strong, become mighty, or prevail.
“prevailed” in this verse is wəgāḇar. The same verb describes both Israel and Amalek prevailing. Its root pictures strength as something that can rise on either side, rather than a permanent possession.
ALSO GROWS
gibbôr: Mighty one, warrior.
גִּבּוֹר
This branch names the person characterized by strength, while the verse shows strength shifting between sides.
gevûrāh: Might, strength.
גְּבוּרָה
It makes explicit the strength contained in “prevail,” the force that changes sides as the hand rises or settles.
THE PATTERN
A lifted hand becomes a visible posture in moments of conflict or appeal.
But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.THE THREAD
But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.The next verse shows the raised posture becoming difficult to sustain: Moses’ hands grow heavy, and Aaron and Hur hold them up. The Hebrew describes his hands as אֱמוּנָה (ʾĕmûnāh, “firm, steady”) until sunset, showing that the posture in verse 11 is sustained with help.
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