What Does Genesis 13:15 Mean in the King James?
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
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 “seed” also means sowing, so what is promised keeps moving beyond the person who first sees it.
THE MEANING
The verse joins what is seen to what is received: the land you see is given, and its promise reaches through your seed into the ages. Its horizon exceeds one lifetime, continuing through those who come after you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that what is given ends with the lifetime of its first recipient: the verse names a promise that continues through seed and ages.
THE ROOT
זֶרַע
zeraʿ
GROWS FROM
ז־ר־ע
z-r-ʿ
to sow, to scatter seed
The same Hebrew word holds both seed and offspring, while its root carries the action of sowing. The promise is framed as something that continues to be carried forward, not as a gift confined to the life of its first recipient.
ALSO GROWS
zāraʿ: to sow or plant
זָרַע
The verb makes the seed’s generative motion audible inside the promise to the recipient’s seed.
zeraʿ: seed or offspring
זֶרַע
The noun can name both what is planted and the descendants through whom the promise continues.
אֶתְּנֶנָּה
ʾettenennāh natan
GROWS FROM
נ־ת־ן
n-t-n
to give, set, or place
“give” in this verse is ʾettenennāh natan. The root carries giving alongside setting or placing. The gift is also a placing of the land in relation to its recipient and descendants.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: gift
מַתָּנָה
This related noun makes the act of giving visible as something received.
natun: given, set, or placed
נָתוּן
This form shows the root’s sense of placing alongside its sense of giving.
עוֹלָם
ʿolam
GROWS FROM
ע־ל־ם
ʿ-l-m
an age or long duration extending beyond the present span
The Hebrew word opens the English “for ever” into age-spanning duration. Here that horizon stretches beyond one lifetime, alongside the seed that carries the promise forward.
ALSO GROWS
leʿolam: for an age, for ages
לְעוֹלָם
This form shows the same word extending a promise across a continuing span.
meʿolam: from of old, from ages past
מֵעוֹלָם
This form places the same age-language on the far side of the present.
THE PATTERN
The promise of land reaches beyond its first recipient, carried through seed and continuing ages.
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.THE THREAD
The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.The “for ever” in both verses translates עוֹלָם (ʿolam), meaning age or ages. The psalm joins that same continuing duration to dwelling in the land, making the promise’s horizon one of ongoing habitation.
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