What Does Exodus 18:23 Mean in the King James?
If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
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 measure of a sound arrangement is that the one carrying responsibility can still stand while the people return to their own places in wholeness.
THE MEANING
The verse holds your capacity and the community’s well-being together: under God’s direction, you can remain standing while others return to their own places in wholeness. The people’s peace is part of the outcome, not an afterthought.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that carrying every need personally is proof that you are serving well.
THE ROOT
שָׁלוֹם
shalom
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or sound.
English “peace” can suggest only the absence of conflict, while shalom carries the sense of wholeness. The people do not merely leave quietly; they return to their places in a condition of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete, sound.
שָׁלֵם
It makes visible the completeness carried inside the people’s return in shalom.
shillem: To repay or make restitution.
שִׁלֵּם
The same root links wholeness with making what is due complete.
עֲמֹד
ʿamod
GROWS FROM
עמד
ʿ-m-d
To stand, remain, or take one’s position.
“endure / stand” in this verse is ʿamod. The Hebrew says Moses will be able to stand. “Endure” can sound like lasting through strain; the root points to remaining upright and able to carry responsibility. The arrangement leaves him standing while the people also reach their places in wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
ʿamad: To stand or remain.
עָמַד
It is the root verb behind Moses’ ability to remain standing.
ʿammud: Pillar or column.
עַמּוּד
A pillar gives a concrete picture of something that stands and supports.
מְקֹמוֹ
meqomo
GROWS FROM
קום
q-w-m
To rise, stand, or be established.
The word for “place” grows from a root of rising and standing. Each person’s return to their place completes the passage’s picture: Moses can stand in his responsibility, and the people can stand again in their own positions.
ALSO GROWS
qum: To rise or stand.
קוּם
It shows the standing sense beneath the word for place.
heqim: To raise, set up, or establish.
הֵקִים
It extends the root’s sense from standing to being established in a position.
THE PATTERN
When responsibility is shared under right order, one person can remain standing and the community can continue in wholeness.
And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.THE THREAD
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.Both verses use שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness): here, the people return to their places in it; there, wholeness is sought for Jerusalem. The shared root shows the outcome extending beyond one person’s relief to the well-being of a people and their place.
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