What Does Genesis 13:18 Mean in the King James?
Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
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
Abram settles and builds an altar in Hebron, a name linked to joining.
THE MEANING
Your dwelling and your encounter with God belong on the same ground: the verse places the tent, the settled life, and the altar together. Hebron carries the sense of joining, gathering these elements into one place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that dwelling and worship occupy separate parts of life dissolves here; both take place on the same ground.
THE ROOT
חֶבְרוֹן
Ḥevron
GROWS FROM
חבר
To join, associate, or bind together.
Hebron is commonly connected with the root חבר, which also gives words for companion and connection. The place name carries a sense of joining beneath the scene of Abram settling and building an altar.
ALSO GROWS
chaver: Companion, friend
חָבֵר
The name of the place echoes the idea of companionship and association.
chibbur: Connection, joining
חִבּוּר
This branch makes the sense of joining in Hebron’s name more visible.
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbeach
GROWS FROM
זבח
To slaughter or sacrifice.
The Hebrew word for altar is formed from the root זבח, tying the structure to sacrifice. The English word names the altar; the Hebrew also carries the action for which it is made.
ALSO GROWS
zevach: Sacrifice, sacrificial meal
זֶבַח
This noun shows the altar’s link to an offering and the meal associated with it.
zoveach: One who offers a sacrifice
זֹבֵחַ
This participle makes the root’s action present in the person who brings an offering.
וַיֵּשֶׁב
vayeshev
GROWS FROM
ישב
To sit, remain, or dwell.
“dwelt” in this verse is vayeshev. The verb for dwelling grows from the same root used for sitting and remaining. Abram’s arrival is more than passing through: he takes his place, even as the tent keeps his dwelling movable.
ALSO GROWS
yoshev: Inhabitant, one who dwells
יֹשֵׁב
This branch names someone who has taken up residence.
moshav: Dwelling, seat, settlement
מוֹשָׁב
This branch carries the root’s movement from sitting to having a place to live.
THE PATTERN
A place of dwelling becomes a place of encounter when the altar is raised there.
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.THE THREAD
And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.Isaac’s verse repeats the pairing of altar and tent, using the same Hebrew word for altar, מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach), from זבח (z-b-ch), “to sacrifice.” The recurring scene gathers dwelling, invocation, and provision in one place.
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