What Does Genesis 15:1 Mean in the King James?
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
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 verse joins a shield to recompense: Abram’s שְׂכָרְךָ (śekhārkha, “your reward”) is declared exceedingly great.
THE MEANING
The voice meets fear with protection and names the reward as exceedingly great. Abram (אַבְרָם, ʾAvram, “exalted father”) carries a name of fatherhood and height beside a promise of abundance. The words speak to you now: the LORD is named as your shield, and what lies ahead is not described as empty.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Fear says you are exposed and what lies ahead is empty; the verse answers with the LORD as shield and recompense as exceedingly great.
THE ROOT
שְׂכָרְךָ
śekhārkha
GROWS FROM
שכר
ś-k-r: hire, wages, recompense.
The word translated “reward” belongs to the concrete family of hiring and wages. It gives the promise the weight of real recompense, then the verse magnifies it as “exceeding great.”
ALSO GROWS
śākhār: wages, hire, reward
שָׂכָר
This noun shares the root consonants ש־כ־ר and shows the concrete recompense carried by “reward.”
śākhar: to hire or pay wages
שָׂכַר
The verb shares the same root consonants and links the reward to the language of hiring and payment.
śākhīr: a hired worker
שָׂכִיר
This related noun keeps the same ש־כ־ר consonants and shows another branch of the wages-and-hiring family.
דְּבַר
devar
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r: speak; speech.
The word-family of דָּבָר spans “word” and “matter” or “thing,” where English separates utterance from what it concerns. The LORD’s word comes in a vision, joining what is heard with what is seen.
ALSO GROWS
dāvar: word, matter, thing
דָּבָר
It shares the root consonants ד־ב־ר and carries both an utterance and the matter it expresses.
dibbēr: to speak
דִּבֵּר
This verb shares the same root consonants and connects the arriving word with the act of speaking.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s protection and provision appear together in the promise made to the vulnerable.
But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.THE THREAD
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.Psalm 84:11 uses מָגֵן (māgēn, “shield”), the same Hebrew noun as Genesis 15:1, and sets it beside what the LORD gives and withholds. The repeated word reveals protection and provision as a joined pattern, with recompense beside the shield.
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