What Does Genesis 26:22 Mean in the King James?
And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
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
Rehoboth and “made room” share the root רחב (r-ḥ-b), so the well’s name gives the widening itself a place to live, and fruitfulness room to grow.
THE MEANING
A place does not have to remain defined by the struggle around it. When room opens without strife, fruitfulness has space to take hold; the verse names that widening as something the LORD makes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that every opening must be secured through conflict, and that fruitfulness cannot come without the fight, dissolves here: the verse holds unopposed room and fruitfulness together.
THE ROOT
הִרְחִיב
hirḥiv
GROWS FROM
רחב
r-ḥ-b
To be wide or become spacious; in this verb form, to make wide.
“Made room” and Rehoboth grow from the same root of widening. The name is not separate from what happens: the well becomes a place where the widening can be lived, and where contention no longer defines the space for fruitfulness.
ALSO GROWS
Reḥovot: Broad places; the name given to the well.
רְחֹבוֹת
The well’s name preserves widening as a place that can be inhabited.
merḥav: A broad or open space.
מֶרְחָב
This same root names the spacious place in Psalm 18:19, linking the well to a wider scriptural image of room.
THE PATTERN
When constriction gives way to room, life can expand without contention.
He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.THE THREAD
He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.The Hebrew word לַמֶּרְחָב (la-merḥav), “into the broad place,” comes from רחב (r-ḥ-b), the same root behind Rehoboth and “made room.” The shared root makes Isaac’s naming tangible: spaciousness is a place where life is no longer defined by contention.
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