What Does Ezra 2:34 Mean in the King James?
The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five.
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 Hebrew word for “children” is tied to “build”, this verse counts a people as the living structure of a place.
THE MEANING
The verse makes a community visible through both its place and its number: 345 children of Jericho. Its exactness holds belonging in concrete form; those counted remain people connected to a place, not just an entry in a list.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that being numbered necessarily makes people anonymous: here, the count keeps the people and their place joined.
THE ROOT
בְּנֵי
benei
GROWS FROM
בנה
b-n-h
Build, build up.
The Hebrew word translated “children” is related to the root for building. The count can be read as more than a tally: it names the people who form and continue a community.
ALSO GROWS
ben: Son, child.
בֵּן
This is the singular form behind the counted “children,” linking family and descent to the building of a people.
binyan: Building, structure.
בִּנְיָן
This branch makes the root’s image plain: people connected through generations form a living structure.
יְרִיחוֹ
Yericho
GROWS FROM
ירח
y-r-ḥ
Moon; also associated with the lunar measure of a month. The place-name’s etymology is debated.
Jericho is often linked with the Hebrew word for “moon,” though that connection is uncertain. The possible echo of the moon’s recurring measure sits alongside the verse’s exact count, giving the place-name a sense of time and continuity.
ALSO GROWS
yareach: Moon.
יָרֵחַ
This is the commonly proposed sound and meaning behind the place-name Jericho.
yerach: Month.
יֶרַח
The related word connects the moon with a recurring measure of time, echoing the verse’s precise number.
THE PATTERN
Being counted can make belonging visible when a person or people remain joined to a place or relationship.
The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.THE THREAD
The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.This verse gives the count a relational shape: the people are counted with the place attached to their belonging. That makes “345 children of Jericho” read as more than arithmetic, the people and their place remain joined in the line.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us