What Does Genesis 24:43 Mean in the King James?
Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;
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 “well” is an עֵין (ʿein, “eye” or “spring”): an opening where hidden water comes within reach.
THE MEANING
You stand beside a source you did not create; what is held below can be drawn up and shared in the measure this moment needs. The request turns the source into an encounter, as provision already present moves from one person to another.
THE ROOT
עֵין
ʿein
GROWS FROM
עין
ʿayin
The word can name an eye and a spring or well, a source opening where water appears.
The Hebrew word for a spring or well is also the ordinary word for an eye. The place is pictured as an opening where what is hidden below appears, while the servant stands there watching for what emerges.
ALSO GROWS
ʿayin: Eye; the organ of sight.
עַיִן
The same word names the spring, letting the well carry the image of an opening that reveals what lies beneath.
maʿyan: Spring or fountain.
מַעְיָן
This related form names water flowing from a source, keeping the verse’s well connected to water emerging into reach.
לִשְׁאֹב
lishʾov
GROWS FROM
שאב
shaʾav
To draw water up from a source.
“draw” in this verse is lishʾov. The action is retrieval: water is drawn up from what is already there. The woman’s drawing brings the hidden source into a vessel, where it can be received and shared.
ALSO GROWS
shoʾev: One who draws water; a water-drawer.
שֹׁאֵב
The root names the person through the act of drawing, making her movement central to the scene.
sheʾivah: Drawing or extraction.
שְׁאִיבָה
This action noun emphasizes water being brought up from a source rather than made anew.
THE PATTERN
At wells, drawing water becomes a threshold where strangers meet and provision changes hands.
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.THE THREAD
Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:Both verses use עֵין מַיִם (ʿein mayim, “well of water”), with עַיִן (ʿayin) also meaning “eye.” The earlier line names the place where the servant waits; the repeated phrase lets the well appear as an opening to what is hidden below.
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