What Does Exodus 8:20 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
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
Release from Pharaoh’s claim carries the people into a different allegiance: service to the LORD.
THE MEANING
Here, the LORD’s word confronts the claim that holds a people: let them go, so they may serve him. The same word reaches you now as a measure of freedom: release has a direction, and it changes whose claim governs your work.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that freedom means being answerable to no one: the verse describes release as a transfer from Pharaoh’s rule into service of the LORD.
THE ROOT
שַׁלַּח
shallach
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
Send, send forth, release, let go.
The imperative translated “go” carries the sense of sending forth or releasing. Its branches include sending away and the provision spread out on a table: release opens a way for life to move beyond the hand that held it.
ALSO GROWS
shaliach: Messenger; one sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
The same root describes a person sent out, showing that release is movement away from a prior claim.
shilluach: Sending away; dismissal.
שִׁלּוּחַ
This branch makes the sense of letting go explicit: the command is to send the people away from Pharaoh’s hold.
shulchan: Table; provision spread out.
שֻׁלְחָן
The table carries the image of what is extended and made available, giving release a destination beyond mere departure.
וְיַעַבְדֻנִי
veyaʿavduni
GROWS FROM
עבד
ʿ-b-d
Work, serve.
“serve” in this verse is veyaʿavduni. The root names both serving and the servant who serves. Beside “release,” it shows that freedom here is a change in whose claim shapes the people’s work: from Pharaoh to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeved: Servant.
עֶבֶד
The people are released from Pharaoh’s claim and enter service under a different master.
avodah: Work; service.
עֲבוֹדָה
This branch holds labor and service together, showing that the verse speaks of freedom as a changed relationship to work.
THE PATTERN
Release breaks a former claim and opens service into a new shape.
O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;THE THREAD
And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.This verse pairs the same roots: Moses is sent, and the people serve God after being brought out. It makes the movement in Exodus 8:20 visible, the people are released from Pharaoh so their service can belong to the LORD.
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