What Does Ezekiel 23:28 Mean in the King James?
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:
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 word translated “deliver” is natan, “give, set, place”, so the hidden image is your whole self being placed in the grasp of what it recoils from.
THE MEANING
The verse addresses you in the grammar of judgment: you are placed in the hand of those you hate. “Thy mind” is your nephesh, your living self, recoiling from them, so the threat reaches both your circumstances and your inward being.
THE ROOT
נֹתֶנְךָ
notenkha
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place.
The verb translated “deliver” is the ordinary word for giving or placing someone. Here the transfer itself is the judgment: you are put into the hand of people your own living self recoils from.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift; something given.
מַתָּנָה
This noun shares the seed of giving and makes visible the root’s basic movement: something passes from one hand to another.
natun: Given, placed.
נָתוּן
This form brings out the placement in the verse: you are set within another’s reach.
נַפְשֵׁךְ
nafshēkh
GROWS FROM
נפשׁ
The living self: a person, life, or living soul.
“Mind” can sound like a private thought or opinion, while nephesh names the living self. The verse says that your whole inward life recoils from them even as you are placed in their hand.
ALSO GROWS
nephesh: Living soul; person or life.
נֶפֶשׁ
This is the base word in “thy mind,” widening the phrase to include the whole living person.
nefashot: Living souls; persons.
נְפָשׁוֹת
The plural form shows nephesh can name living people themselves, not only an inner mental faculty.
THE PATTERN
Scripture describes judgment as being given over: a person is placed under a power they cannot rule.
And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:THE THREAD
And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.“Gave” comes from the same Hebrew root, נתן (natan), as Ezekiel’s “deliver.” Psalm 106 also names the hand and the haters, making the transfer of power visible in the same stark terms.
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