What Does Genesis 20:12 Mean in the King James?

And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

Genesis 20:12 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The Hebrew for “sister” shares its root with “brother,” keeping Sarah’s sibling bond audible beneath Abraham’s claim that she is his wife.

THE MEANING

This verse names both relations: Sarah is Abraham’s paternal half-sister and his wife. Naming her as his wife does not erase the family bond the sentence also names.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the assumption that Sarah is only Abraham’s wife: the verse states that she is his paternal half-sister too.

THE ROOT

אֲחוֹת

achot

GROWS FROM

אח

Brother or sibling; kinship in the sibling relation.

Hebrew ⁨אֲחוֹת⁩ (achot, sister) and ⁨אָח⁩ (ach, brother) share the consonantal root ⁨אח⁩. English gives the two relations unrelated-sounding words, while Hebrew keeps their shared kinship visible.

ALSO GROWS

ach: Brother.

אָח

This is the masculine sibling term from the same root, making the family bond in “sister” visible.

achavah: Brotherhood or kinship.

אַחֲוָה

This branch extends the sibling root into a broader bond, showing the family relation as more than a label for one person.

THE PATTERN

Scripture can name one person through overlapping kinship relations, with each name adding a distinct bond.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Genesis 2:23 · KJVThe verse names the woman through both her shared human substance and her relation to the man.

Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

Song of Solomon 4:9 · KJV“Sister” and “spouse” appear together, letting familial and marital language stand side by side.

For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Matthew 12:50 · KJVKinship names gather several distinct relations into one bond.

THE THREAD

And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Genesis 4:2 · KJV

The Hebrew for “sister” here, ⁨אֲחוֹת⁩ (achot), belongs to the same root family as “brother,” ⁨אָח⁩ (ach), in Genesis 4:2. English separates the words, but Hebrew makes their shared sibling bond audible.

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