What Does Genesis 22:5 Mean in the King James?
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
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 says “we will return,” placing the boy inside the future he speaks aloud.
THE MEANING
You hear a future spoken before its outcome is visible: Abraham says “we will return,” with the boy inside the “we.” Bowing and return share the same sentence, so surrender does not erase the future he names.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that surrender means the future is already gone: Abraham’s words still include the boy in the return.
THE ROOT
וְנָשׁוּבָה
wenashuvah
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
to turn back, return
The Hebrew verb is first-person plural: Abraham says “we will return,” keeping the boy inside the return he names. The same root can describe turning back and being restored, so “come again” carries the image of return, not merely arrival somewhere else.
ALSO GROWS
veyashuvu: and they turn or return
וְיָשֻׁבוּ
The same root describes the nations turning toward the LORD, linking return with a change of direction.
yeshovev: restores, brings back
יְשׁוֹבֵב
Here the root describes restoration as a bringing back, opening a depth beyond simply retracing a path.
וְנִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה
wenishtachaveh
GROWS FROM
שׁחה
shachah
to bow down, lower oneself
The Hebrew verb names bowing down, the bodily posture carried inside “worship.” Abraham says that he and the boy will lower themselves before God; the word holds an embodied action within the English rendering.
ALSO GROWS
wayyishtachu: he bowed himself down
וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ
The same root describes Abraham’s servant physically bowing to the LORD, making the posture in this verse concrete.
lo-tishtachaveh: you shall not bow down
לֹא־תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה
The same bodily verb is used for bowing before other gods: the root names the posture, while its object gives that posture its direction.
THE PATTERN
Return is a movement toward God, and it remains speakable even at the edge of death.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:THE THREAD
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.Psalm 22:27 uses שׁוּב (shuv, turn or return) where it says the nations “turn” to the LORD, then uses שׁחה (shachah, bow down) where it says they “worship.” The two roots in Genesis 22:5 appear together again: returning and bowing are joined in one movement toward God.
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