What Does Ezekiel 16:9 Mean in the King James?
Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
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 verb behind “washed away” also carries the force of a flood, so the blood is swept from the body before oil is laid on it.
THE MEANING
The blood clinging to you is washed away, and oil is spread over you afterward. Care reaches the body as both removal and touch: what clings is carried away, and the body is tended.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
You have to make yourself clean before you can be cared for.
THE ROOT
וָאֶשְׁטֹף
va’eshtof
GROWS FROM
שטף
shataph
To overflow, sweep along, or wash away.
“washed away” in this verse is va’eshtof. This root holds washing together with the force of a flood: cleansing carries away what clings. The verse moves from that release to oil laid on the body, from removal to tending.
ALSO GROWS
sheteph: Flood, torrent
שֶׁטֶף
The flood sense reveals the movement inside “washed away”: the blood is carried off in a flow.
shataph: To overflow, sweep away, wash
שָׁטַף
The same root can describe both washing and sweeping forcefully away, giving this cleansing movement.
וָאֶרְחָצֵךְ
va’erachatzekh
GROWS FROM
רחץ
rachats
To wash or bathe, especially the body.
“washed” in this verse is va’erachatzekh. This is a bodily washing, not an abstract cleansing. The same root appears in the earlier verse where washing in water is absent, making the washing here something received.
ALSO GROWS
rachats: To wash or bathe
רָחַץ
This verb names the direct washing of the body in the verse.
rechatsah: Washing, bath
רְחָצָה
The noun branch keeps the root tied to washing as a bodily act of care.
THE PATTERN
Restoration meets the body through cleansing and oil-bearing care.
Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.THE THREAD
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.The same root, רחץ (rachats, “wash”), binds the verses: 16:4 says washing in water is absent, while 16:9 gives it. The later verse adds שטף (shataph, “sweep away”), carrying off the blood before oil is laid on the body.
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