What Does Exodus 22:20 Mean in the King James?
He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
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 “utterly destroyed” places the worshiper under an irrevocable ban, making rival sacrifice a death sentence.
THE MEANING
This verse places before you a stark boundary: sacrifice to any god besides the LORD carries the sentence of total destruction. Its language makes the recipient of worship decisive and the consequence bodily, not symbolic.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that worship directed to any god is interchangeable: this verse names rival sacrifice as carrying a lethal consequence.
THE ROOT
יָחֳרָם
yāḥŏrām
GROWS FROM
ח־ר־ם
ḥ-r-m
To place under an irrevocable ban or devote to destruction; here, the ban ends in death.
“utterly destroyed” in this verse is yāḥŏrām. The verb carries the force of being placed under a total ban, not merely receiving a general penalty. In this verse, that status has a lethal consequence: the worshiper who sacrifices to another god is sentenced to destruction.
ALSO GROWS
ḥērem: A person or thing placed under a ban, often devoted to destruction.
חֵרֶם
This noun shows the status named by the verb: the sentence places the worshiper under the ban.
ḥāram: To ban or devote irrevocably, often to destruction.
חָרַם
The verb branch makes clear that “utterly destroyed” carries the idea of an irrevocable ban whose consequence here is death.
זֹבֵחַ
zōvēaḥ
GROWS FROM
ז־ב־ח
z-b-ḥ
To slaughter in sacrifice.
“sacrificeth” in this verse is zōvēaḥ. The Hebrew word keeps sacrifice connected to slaughter: it names a concrete act, not only an inward feeling of devotion. Its root also links the act to the altar and to the offering made there.
ALSO GROWS
mizbēaḥ: Altar, the place of sacrifice.
מִזְבֵּחַ
The altar shares the root and makes the physical setting of the act visible.
zebaḥ: Sacrifice or slaughtered offering.
זֶבַח
This related noun shows the act and offering growing from the same root.
THE PATTERN
Rival devotion is treated as a real breach of exclusive allegiance, with consequences that can be lethal.
And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.THE THREAD
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.“Utterly destroy” translates the same חרם root used in Exodus 22:20. Here its force is explicit: being placed under the ban means total destruction, extending even to infants and animals.
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