What Does Genesis 24:3 Mean in the King James?
And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
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 oath over marriage carries the Hebrew echo of seven, binding the boundary beneath the God of both heaven and earth.
THE MEANING
Even now, the verse places a marriage bond under the claim of the LORD, named as God of heaven and earth. Living among a people does not, by itself, settle who becomes family through marriage.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that marriage is only a private preference, disconnected from the allegiance named in the oath.
THE ROOT
וְאַשְׁבִּיעֲךָ
ve’ashbiʿakha
GROWS FROM
שבע
sh-b-ʿ
To swear or bind by oath; the same consonants also form the Hebrew word for seven.
“make thee swear” in this verse is ve’ashbiʿakha. The verb for making someone swear shares its consonants with “seven,” a sound-link made vivid in Genesis 21:31, where an oath is tied to the name Beersheba. English gives the sense of a solemn charge, while Hebrew also lets the oath echo through the language of seven.
ALSO GROWS
shevuʿah: An oath or sworn bond.
שְׁבוּעָה
This noun from the same root makes clear that the verse places the marriage boundary under a binding charge.
shevaʿ: Seven.
שֶׁבַע
Its consonants echo in the oath; Genesis 21:31 pairs swearing with the name Beersheba.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents marriage as a bond shaped by allegiance to God.
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.THE THREAD
Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.The word translated “sware” comes from the same root שבע (sh-b-ʿ) as “make thee swear” here. Genesis 21:31 joins the oath to Beersheba, letting the seven-sound within Abraham’s charge become audible.
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