What Does Genesis 25:22 Mean in the King James?
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
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 womb’s struggle carries the root-sense of crushing, and that pressure sends Rebekah’s “why?” toward the LORD.
THE MEANING
When conflict is already moving within you, the question “Why am I thus?” belongs in the same moment as your seeking the LORD. The verse holds distress and inquiry together: the question becomes a turn toward the One she seeks.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that asking why in distress means you lack trust: Rebekah asks, then goes to inquire of the LORD.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתְרֹצֲצוּ
wayyitroṣaṣū
GROWS FROM
רצץ
r-ṣ-ṣ
To crush, bruise, or oppress; in this form, to struggle or jostle violently.
“struggled” in this verse is wayyitroṣaṣū. The word carries the force of crushing, giving the conflict inside her more weight than a neutral stirring. The pressure is strong enough to become a question directed toward the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
ratsats: To crush or oppress.
רָצַץ
This is the verb behind the struggle: the word holds pressure and conflict together.
ratzutz: Crushed or bruised.
רָצוּץ
Isaiah uses this word for a bruised reed, echoing the pressure contained in the twins’ struggle.
בְּקִרְבָּהּ
beqirbah
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
To draw near or approach; the related noun qerev means the inward part or midst.
“within” in this verse is beqirbah. The verse locates the struggle in her inward part. The same consonants form qarav, “draw near,” and qorban, “drawing near,” giving the passage a quiet movement from what is happening inside her to her approach toward the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: To approach or draw near.
קָרַב
The root links the inward place where the struggle happens with movement toward the LORD.
qorban: A drawing near; an offering brought near.
קָרְבָּן
This branch echoes the turn from inward turmoil to seeking the LORD.
THE PATTERN
What stirs within can become the pressure that voices a question, a groan, or a search.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.THE THREAD
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.“Struggled” grows from רצץ (ratsats), the same root behind “bruised.” Isaiah’s image carries that pressure into another scene, where what is bruised is not broken further.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us