What Does Genesis 12:20 Mean in the King James?
And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
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 שָׁלַח (shalach, send or release) turns Pharaoh’s order into a release carrying Abram, his wife, and everything he has out together.
THE MEANING
A constricting hold can be made to open: Pharaoh’s command sends Abram, his wife, and all that he has out together. Release is concrete here, reaching the person, the relationship, and what travels with them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that release is only inward dissolves here: the order changes where Abram, his wife, and everything he has can be.
THE ROOT
וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ
wayeshallĕḥu
GROWS FROM
שלח
To send, send forth, extend the hand, or release.
“sent him away” in this verse is wayeshallĕḥu. The English “sent away” names motion, while שָׁלַח (shalach, send or release) also carries the sense of letting go. Here the release takes in Abram, his wife, and all he has; the whole household moves outward together.
ALSO GROWS
shilluach: Sending away; dismissal
שִׁלּוּחַ
This noun makes the verb’s sending-away action visible as a complete release, matching the departure Pharaoh orders.
shaliach: Messenger; one who is sent
שָׁלִיחַ
This branch shows that sending places someone on a path outward; here Abram and his household are the ones sent out.
shulchan: Table; provision set out
שֻׁלְחָן
The table carries the root’s outward movement into provision extended; here that movement includes all that Abram has.
THE PATTERN
A constricting hold gives way when release carries the whole life outward.
Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.THE THREAD
And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.The same root, שָׁלַח (shalach, send or release), sends one household out here and a whole people out in Exodus. The household’s release opens onto the larger pattern of Egypt letting go.
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