What Does Genesis 21:27 Mean in the King James?
And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
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 pictures making this covenant as “cutting” it: the bond takes a defined, binding shape alongside the gift.
THE MEANING
Avraham (אַבְרָהָם, Avraham, “father of a multitude”) and Avimelekh (אֲבִימֶלֶךְ, Avimelekh, “my father is king”) stand in a mutual bond given visible form through Abraham’s gift. The Hebrew verb behind “made” means “cut,” so covenant carries the sense of a bond formally marked and binding. The verse presents what passes between them as part of the relationship itself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A covenant is only an inward intention, with no visible form between the people who enter it.
THE ROOT
וַיִּכְרְתוּ
wayyikhrĕtû
GROWS FROM
כרת
k-r-t
Cut, cut off, sever.
“made a covenant” in this verse is wayyikhrĕtû. The verb וַיִּכְרְתוּ (wayyikhrĕtû, “they cut”) uses כרת (karat, “cut”) in the Hebrew phrase כָּרַת בְּרִית (karat berit, “cut a covenant”). The English “made” and Hebrew “cut” meet here: the mutual bond takes a defined shape alongside Abraham’s gift of animals.
ALSO GROWS
keritut: Cutting off; a bill of divorce.
כְּרִיתוּת
This derivative carries the root’s sense of separation into a formal document, showing how כרת marks the boundaries of a relationship.
nikhrat: Be cut off or severed.
נִכְרַת
This form shows the root can describe separation; in the verse’s covenant idiom, the same root gives the bond a binding edge.
THE PATTERN
Covenant takes visible form through a concrete act or sign shared between its parties.
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.THE THREAD
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:Genesis 15:18 uses the same Hebrew verb כרת (karat, “cut”) for making a covenant. The shared root lets this verse’s gift and covenant sit within a wider image of relationship given a binding mark.
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