What Does Genesis 21:33 Mean in the King James?
And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
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
Abraham’s tree takes root at Beer-sheba, while the name he calls there places that rooted moment inside God’s horizon of ages.
THE MEANING
Your life unfolds in particular places and seasons, yet the God you address is named across the ages. The verse holds a rooted act and a vast span together: Abraham plants a tree at Beer-sheba and calls there on the God of the ages.
THE ROOT
עוֹלָם
ʿolam
GROWS FROM
עלם
Conceal, be hidden, lie beyond sight; עוֹלָם names an age whose far horizon is beyond ordinary view.
“everlasting” in this verse is ʿolam. The root עלם (ʿ-l-m, conceal or be hidden) opens a depth beneath עוֹלָם (ʿolam, age or ages): the span reaches beyond what can be seen. Abraham calls God by this horizon-name as he plants something rooted in one particular place.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālam: To conceal; to be hidden.
עָלַם
The related verb carries the sense of what lies out of view, echoing an age whose boundary cannot be seen.
neʿlam: Hidden; concealed.
נֶעְלָם
This form makes the unseen-horizon sense concrete: the named span reaches beyond what Abraham can observe.
ʿolamim: Ages; long spans of time.
עוֹלָמִים
The plural speaks of ages, opening the title “God of the ages” beyond a single lifetime.
קָרָא
qara
GROWS FROM
קרא
Call, cry out, proclaim; also read aloud.
“called” in this verse is qara. קָרָא (qara, call or proclaim) is a spoken act, and the same root also gives מִקְרָא (miqra, reading or convocation). Abraham’s invocation makes the planted place one where God’s name is voiced.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: A reading, proclamation, or convocation.
מִקְרָא
This branch carries calling into a gathered or voiced occasion, showing the spoken quality of Abraham’s act.
qeriʾah: A calling or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
The noun preserves the root’s shared movement between calling and voicing a text.
THE PATTERN
Calling on the LORD’s name is a spoken relation that meets a person in a place, in distress, and in the promise of deliverance.
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.THE THREAD
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.Psalm 90:2 uses עוֹלָם (ʿolam, age or ages) twice: the LORD’s span reaches from age to age, before the mountains and the formed world. Genesis names God אֵל עוֹלָם (ʾEl ʿolam, God of the ages) in one place and moment, giving Abraham’s invocation that same horizon.
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