What Does Genesis 19:20 Mean in the King James?
Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
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 refuge that keeps life moving is not impressive; it is simply near and small enough to reach.
THE MEANING
A refuge can be small and still be enough to preserve life. When danger presses close, the nearest livable opening matters more than the grandeur of the destination. The verse lets the fear remain visible: survival is being asked for plainly.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that only a large, impressive rescue counts as deliverance; the smallest reachable opening can be enough for life to continue.
THE ROOT
מִצְעָר
mitsa'ar
GROWS FROM
צער
ṣ-ʿ-r
Be small, slight, or diminished.
“little one” in this verse is mitsa'ar. The word for “little” echoes in the city’s name, Zoar: the shelter is named for its smallness. English can make “little” sound incidental, but here that quality becomes the refuge’s identity, the small place is the one available for escape.
ALSO GROWS
tsa'ir: Young, small, or minor.
צָעִיר
This related word carries the same sense of being little, showing that smallness can describe scale or a stage of life.
Tso'ar: Zoar, the city whose name echoes “little.”
צֹעַר
The city’s name carries the description into its identity: the little refuge remains little, and still becomes a place where life can continue.
THE PATTERN
What preserves life need not look large or strong; its measure is whether it carries someone through.
And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.THE THREAD
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.The request’s word for “little” echoes in the city’s name, Zoar. The answer does not remove the smallness Lot asks for; it makes that very small place the destination of escape.
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