What Does Ezekiel 20:38 Mean in the King James?
And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
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 translated “purge” carries the sense of selecting and clarifying, so the judgment exposes the line running through the gathered people.
THE MEANING
The verse names a hard boundary within a gathered people: the LORD removes rebels, brings them out of their place of sojourning, and bars their entry into Israel’s land. The LORD becomes recognizable through this separation, not through an explanation detached from what happens.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that being counted among the gathered people guarantees entry: the verse places a boundary within that group.
THE ROOT
וּבָרֹתִי
uvaroti
GROWS FROM
ברר
barar
To clarify, purify, or select; here, to purge through separation.
“purge out” in this verse is uvaroti. The root ברר (barar, clarify or select) carries more than removal: it also suggests making a distinction clear. The action exposes who is separated from the people who enter the land.
ALSO GROWS
barur: Pure, clear
בָּרוּר
The quality of being clear or pure echoes the distinction the LORD makes among the people.
levarer: To purge, clarify, or select
לְבָרֵר
This form appears with the sense of purging in Daniel 11:35, showing the same root at work in a process of separation.
וְהַפּוֹשְׁעִים
vehapposhe'im
GROWS FROM
פשע
pasha
To rebel or break away.
“transgress” in this verse is vehapposhe'im. פשע (pasha, rebel or break away) frames the act as a rupture in relationship. The verse names those who break away “against me,” making the separation relational as well as communal.
ALSO GROWS
pesha: Rebellion, breaking away
פֶּשַׁע
The noun names the rupture behind the people’s exclusion.
poshea: One who rebels or breaks away
פּוֹשֵׁעַ
The verse’s plural form describes people by this ongoing relation of rebellion.
וִידַעְתֶּם
vidatem
GROWS FROM
ידע
yada
To know, recognize, or perceive.
ידע (yada, know or perceive) can name recognition grounded in encounter rather than information alone. Here the separation itself makes the LORD recognizable to those addressed.
ALSO GROWS
da'at: Knowledge, perception
דַּעַת
This noun shows knowing as a state of awareness, which the verse connects to what the LORD does.
yedi'ah: Knowing, recognition
יְדִיעָה
This form carries the root’s sense of recognition that grows from knowing.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents divine judgment as a separation within a gathered people, making belonging visible by who remains and who is removed.
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?THE THREAD
And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.Verse 38 says the rebels are brought out and cannot enter; this verse pairs the same recognition with the LORD bringing the addressed people into Israel’s land. The repeated “ye shall know that I am the LORD” sets exclusion beside return, with both movements revealing the same speaker.
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