What Does Genesis 26:28 Mean in the King James?
And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
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 covenant they propose is literally “cut”: what they see in Isaac becomes a binding commitment between them.
THE MEANING
Others name what they see around you: the LORD is with you. Their recognition changes the terms between you, moving the relationship into a sworn bond. What is recognized becomes something public and binding.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what sustains you is visible only to you: here, the other party says plainly, “We saw.”
THE ROOT
שְׁבֻעָה
shevu'ah
GROWS FROM
שׁבע
sh-b-ʿ
To swear; the same consonants also form שֶׁבַע (sheva), “seven.”
The oath word שְׁבֻעָה (shevu’ah, oath) shares its consonants with שֶׁבַע (sheva, seven), while נִשְׁבַּע (nishba, swore) is a verb from the same root. English leaves that sound-link hidden; Genesis 21:31 makes it audible in Beer-sheba and the oath sworn there.
ALSO GROWS
sheva: Seven
שֶׁבַע
Its consonants match the oath root, echoing the oath motif named in Genesis 21:31.
nishba: He swore; took an oath
נִשְׁבַּע
This verb shares the root and links the oath noun to the act of swearing.
וְנִכְרְתָה בְּרִית
wenikhretah berit
GROWS FROM
כרת
karat
To cut off or sever.
“make a covenant” in this verse is wenikhretah berit. The verb כרת (karat, cut) is paired with בְּרִית (berit, covenant). The Hebrew idiom says “cut a covenant,” giving the agreement a defined, binding form.
ALSO GROWS
karat: Cut; cut off
כָּרַת
This verb supplies the image behind the covenant phrase in the verse.
hikhrīt: Cut off; cause to cease
הִכְרִית
The same root also describes severance, bringing a sense of a decisive boundary to the covenant image.
THE PATTERN
A shared recognition becomes a public, binding bond when it is named and sworn.
Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.THE THREAD
Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.The “oath” here, שְׁבֻעָה (shevu’ah, oath), and “sware” there, נִשְׁבְּעוּ (nishbe’u, they swore), share the root שׁבע (sh-b-ʿ, swear). There, the oath is bound to the name Beer-sheba; here, the same oath-root returns when Isaac’s neighbors ask to bind themselves to him.
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