What Does Genesis 14:10 Mean in the King James?
And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
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 same Hebrew root that means to flee also names refuge, yet here flight delivers the kings into danger.
THE MEANING
Here, escape does not yet mean safety: the kings flee and fall, while those who remain keep running toward the mountain. The verse speaks to the moment when getting away from one danger is only the beginning of finding somewhere that can hold.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that moving away from danger already means reaching refuge; running can leave you exposed to the next threat.
THE ROOT
וַיָּנֻסוּ
vayyanusu
GROWS FROM
נוּס
To flee, escape.
“fled” in this verse is vayyanusu. English separates fleeing from refuge, while Hebrew joins them through נוּס (nus), “to flee or escape.” The kings’ flight ends in a fall, exposing the gap between getting away and finding refuge.
ALSO GROWS
manos: Refuge, escape.
מָנוֹס
This branch names the destination the fleeing kings do not reach when they fall into the pits.
menusah: Flight, rout.
מְנוּסָה
The word keeps the motion of flight visible: those left behind are still running toward the mountain, so escape remains unfinished.
THE PATTERN
Flight becomes refuge only when it reaches a place that can hold.
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.THE THREAD
The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.Genesis uses נוּס (nus), “to flee or escape,” for the kings’ flight; David calls God מְנוּסִי (menusi), “my refuge,” a word built from the same root. That shared root reveals what Genesis leaves unresolved: fleeing moves toward refuge, but the movement itself is not refuge.
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