What Does Genesis 26:31 Mean in the King James?
And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
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
Here, release completes the agreement in a way that lets both sides depart with wholeness.
THE MEANING
An agreement can reach completion through parting: Isaac sends the others away, and they depart in shalom, peace as wholeness. You can see separation coexist with a bond that remains intact.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that parting always means the peace between people has failed.
THE ROOT
וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם
vayeshallĕḥem
GROWS FROM
שלח
sh-l-ḥ
Send, send forth, release.
“sent them away” in this verse is vayeshallĕḥem. The verb carries the sense of sending and release, so Isaac’s action gives the parties a way to separate cleanly. Beside shalom, it lets release and wholeness coexist: distance does not have to undo the agreement.
ALSO GROWS
shaliach: Emissary, one who is sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
The sent person carries the sending into the world; here the parties carry the agreement forward as they leave.
shilluach: Sending away, dismissal, release.
שִׁלּוּחַ
This branch makes the act of parting visible within the root itself: sending away can be a complete act of release.
בְּשָׁלוֹם
b'shalom
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
Be whole, complete, sound.
“in peace” in this verse is b'shalom. Shalom carries well-being and wholeness within the word translated peace. The parties depart in that condition, so the verse marks the ending by what remains intact, not only by the absence of fighting.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete.
שָׁלֵם
This form makes the wholeness inside shalom explicit; the departure leaves the agreement complete.
shillem: Repay, make good, recompense.
שִׁלֵּם
The same root can describe making good or settling what is owed, echoing the completed terms that allow the parties to depart.
THE PATTERN
A departure can carry wholeness forward when release completes the agreement.
That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.THE THREAD
That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.Genesis 26:29 pairs שָׁלַח (shalach, send or release) with שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness or peace) in the words “sent thee away in peace.” Verse 31 enacts that same pairing, making the departure itself the completion of the agreement.
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