What Does Exodus 18:8 Mean in the King James?
And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them.
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 Hebrew verb behind “told” also carries the sense of counting: the account of deliverance holds the hard road inside it.
THE MEANING
Your telling can hold the whole passage: what was done, what hurt along the way, and where release came. Deliverance does not make the travail irrelevant; the full account gives the rescue its shape.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that once you are out, the hard part should be left out of the story. Here the trouble remains in the telling alongside the deliverance.
THE ROOT
וַיְסַפֵּר
wayesapper
GROWS FROM
ספר
Count, recount, or relate.
The verb translated “told” comes from the same root that gives words for counting and written accounts. Moses recounts the trouble on the way and the LORD’s deliverance together, letting the whole experience, not just its outcome, remain in the story.
ALSO GROWS
sefer: Book or written account.
סֵפֶר
The shared root connects telling with an account that can be kept and carried forward.
mispar: Number or count.
מִסְפָּר
The counting sense illuminates how Moses tells all that happened, including the travail along the way.
THE PATTERN
Deliverance becomes testimony when the telling makes room for both the trouble and the act of release.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.THE THREAD
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.The Hebrew word translated “shewing” comes from the same ספר root as Moses’ “told.” Together, the verses show how recounting what the LORD has done keeps the account visible to those who receive it now and those who come after.
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