What Does Genesis 14:3 Mean in the King James?

All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

Genesis 14:3 · KJV

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

“Joined together” is the Hebrew word for entering a company: these powers are bound to one another, not merely gathered in one place.

THE MEANING

When separate powers bind themselves to a shared cause, they become one company with a shared stake. The Salt Sea names the place; the verb reveals the bond between them.

THE ROOT

חָבְרוּ

ḥāveru

GROWS FROM

חבר

to join, bind, or associate

“joined together” in this verse is ḥāveru. The verb ⁨חָבְרוּ⁩ (ḥāveru, “they joined”) comes from ⁨חבר⁩, the root of joining and associating. Its branches include a companion and something made compact together, so the verse describes a bond between these powers, not just their proximity.

ALSO GROWS

ḥāver: companion, associate

חָבֵר

A companion is someone joined in company with another; this gives the alliance a sense of shared belonging.

ḥubberah: was joined, made compact together

חֻבְּרָה

In Psalm 122:3 the same root describes a city joined into a whole, showing how joining can shape a company or a structure.

THE PATTERN

Joining turns separate parts into one company or structure.

And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle.

Exodus 26:6 · KJVSeparate curtains are joined into one tabernacle, just as separate powers become one company.

Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:

Psalm 122:3 · KJVThe same Hebrew root describes a city joined into a coherent whole.

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

Ephesians 2:21 · KJVSeparate parts are joined into a growing structure, extending the pattern from a company to a temple.

THE THREAD

Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:

Psalm 122:3 · KJV

“Compact together” translates a form of the same root ⁨חבר⁩ (ḥ-b-r, “join or associate”) used for “joined together” here. In one verse it binds powers into a company; in the other, it joins a city into a whole.

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