What Does Genesis 18:17 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
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 Hebrew word for “hide” means “cover,” so the question is whether trust will leave Abraham under a cover over what God is doing.
THE MEANING
The reader sees disclosure as part of trust: the work unfolding is not always kept outside the relationship. The question makes being told part of being drawn close, so knowing what is being done becomes shared understanding.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that closeness to God means remaining uninformed about the work unfolding around you.
THE ROOT
הַמְכַסֶּה
hamkasseh
GROWS FROM
כסה
k-s-h
To cover, conceal, or put something out of sight.
“hide” in this verse is hamkasseh. The Hebrew pictures not simply silence but a cover placed over what is known. The same root names a physical covering and something covered from view; here, the question is whether that cover stays between Abraham and what is being done.
ALSO GROWS
mikhseh: Covering
מִכְסֶה
The word names the ark’s covering in Genesis 8:13, giving the same root a tangible form: something placed over what is within.
kesuy: Covered
כְּסוּי
Psalm 32:1 uses this form for sin that is covered; the shared root lets the verse’s question about concealment echo the broader image of what is hidden beneath a cover.
THE PATTERN
What is revealed can become shared knowledge and responsibility within a trusted relationship.
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.THE THREAD
For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.The next verse gives the reason Abraham is brought into what is unfolding: what he knows will shape his household and pass onward. Disclosure here opens a path for shared understanding to become a way of life.
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