What Does Genesis 20:5 Mean in the King James?
Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
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
In Hebrew, integrity is wholeness, so the heart and hands give one joined account.
THE MEANING
Abimelech places his heart’s wholeness and his hands’ cleanness in the same account. The next verse says God recognizes the integrity of his heart and has also restrained his hand from touching Sarah. The verse speaks now whenever a choice is accounted for: inward intent and outward action both belong in view.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that sincere intention alone makes every action harmless: the next verse affirms Abimelech’s heart while showing God restraining his hand.
THE ROOT
תֹּם
tom
GROWS FROM
תמם
t-m-m
To be complete or whole.
The Hebrew word for “integrity” carries the sense of wholeness. Abimelech names the heart’s wholeness alongside the hands’ cleanness, putting inward intent and outward action into one account.
ALSO GROWS
tamam: To be complete or brought to completion.
תָּמַם
The verb preserves the sense of integrity as wholeness.
tamim: Whole, complete, or blameless.
תָּמִים
This related form carries the same idea of completeness into descriptions of a person or offering.
נִקָּיוֹן
niqqayon
GROWS FROM
נקה
n-q-h
To be clean, clear, or free of guilt.
“Innocency” here is expressed as cleanness, with Abimelech naming the palms of his hands. That image makes the claim concrete: his account concerns what his hands have done or been kept from doing.
ALSO GROWS
naqi: Clean, innocent, or free from guilt.
נָקִי
This adjective shows the same root describing someone as clear of wrongdoing.
niqqah: To clear, acquit, or leave clean.
נִקָּה
This verb form shows cleanness as the state of being cleared or left free of guilt.
THE PATTERN
Integrity is a whole account in which inward intent and outward action remain joined.
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
A Psalm of David. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.The word “integrity” in both verses comes from תֹּם (tom, wholeness or completeness), and Psalm 26:1 pictures that wholeness as a way a person walks. The shared root opens Abimelech’s heart and hands as one lived account.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us