What Does Genesis 23:7 Mean in the King James?
And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
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 one named Abraham (אַבְרָהָם, Avraham, “father of a multitude”) stands, then bows: stature and deference share one body.
THE MEANING
Abraham rises before the people of the land and bows to them; regard takes visible form in his posture. His name carries breadth, while his body makes room for those before him. The verse holds dignity and deference together now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that bowing before another makes you lesser: Abraham stands and bows in the same scene.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ
vayishtachu
GROWS FROM
שחה
shachah
To bow down or prostrate oneself.
“bowed himself” in this verse is vayishtachu. This verb carries the body’s full downward motion, from bowing to prostration. The same root can describe bowing before God or before people; the posture’s force remains while the setting shows whom it honors.
ALSO GROWS
shachah: To bow down or prostrate.
שָׁחָה
This basic verb shows the physical depth contained in the act Abraham performs.
hishtachavah: To bow oneself down or prostrate oneself.
הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה
This form makes the body’s own movement explicit, matching the verse’s description of Abraham’s gesture.
וַיָּקָם
vayyaqom
GROWS FROM
קום
qum
To rise or stand.
“stood up” in this verse is vayyaqom. The verse pairs rising with bowing: the body moves upward and downward in one act of regard. The two movements coexist without canceling each other.
ALSO GROWS
qum: To rise or stand.
קוּם
This is the root’s basic movement, expressed as Abraham stands before the people.
heqim: To raise, set up, or establish.
הֵקִים
This causative form extends rising into bringing something to its feet, echoing the verse’s upward movement before the bow.
THE PATTERN
Regard becomes visible when a person lowers themselves before another.
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.THE THREAD
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,When Abraham welcomes the visitors, the same Hebrew root שחה (shachah, bow down or prostrate) names his bow toward the ground. Here he directs that same bodily language toward the people of the land, joining welcome and respect through one gesture.
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