What Does Ezekiel 31:7 Mean in the King James?
Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
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 tree’s visible greatness is traced to its hidden root beside abundant waters.
THE MEANING
The verse shows beauty and reach resting on a source beneath the surface: the root is beside many waters. Its image speaks to you now as a living pattern: what extends outward is sustained by what is rooted and fed out of sight.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that greatness can be understood from what is visible alone; the verse locates its source beneath the branches.
THE ROOT
שָׁרְשׁוֹ
shor-sho
GROWS FROM
שׁ־ר־שׁ
sh-r-sh
Root; to take root or strike roots.
The Hebrew word for “root” belongs to the same word family as the verb “to take root.” The verse places that hidden source beside many waters, linking the tree’s outward reach with what is established and nourished below.
ALSO GROWS
sharash: To take root, strike roots.
שָׁרַשׁ
Isaiah uses this verb for taking root downward before bearing fruit upward, making the hidden root an active part of the tree’s flourishing.
shorashim: Roots.
שֹׁרָשִׁים
The plural keeps attention on the unseen network beneath the tree, the part connected to its source of water.
THE PATTERN
Visible flourishing grows from roots nourished by what lies beneath the surface.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.THE THREAD
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:“Take root” here uses the same שׁ־ר־שׁ root as Ezekiel’s “root.” Isaiah makes the direction explicit: the root takes hold downward before fruit appears upward, opening Ezekiel’s image of greatness sustained from beneath.
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