What Does Ezra 2:61 Mean in the King James?
And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name:
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
A name can carry a household’s belonging beyond blood: this priestly descendant is known by the family joined through marriage.
THE MEANING
Origin and belonging can coexist: a person carries the lineage they inherit and can also be known by the household bond they enter. Here, the name publicly marks that bond.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that inherited lineage is the only part of identity that shapes how a person is known; a bond entered can shape it too.
THE ROOT
וַיִּקָּרֵא
wayyiqqārē
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
To call out, name, proclaim, or read aloud.
The Hebrew word for “was called” comes from qara, whose reach includes naming and proclaiming. The name is an act of recognition: this descendant is publicly known through the household whose name he bears.
ALSO GROWS
qeri'ah: Calling or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
The same root links naming with words spoken or read aloud, making a name something voiced into recognition.
miqra: A reading, proclamation, or convocation.
מִקְרָא
The root extends from naming a person to calling people together, joining identity with belonging.
THE PATTERN
A name in Scripture can mark the identity and belonging that a relationship speaks over someone.
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.THE THREAD
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.Ezra’s “was called” and Isaiah’s “called” come from קרא (qara), meaning to call or name. Isaiah joins that calling to belonging, opening the name in Ezra as a marker of the household bond through which this descendant is recognized.
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