What Does Genesis 30:28 Mean in the King James?
And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
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 exchange begins when the wage is marked out and named, before it is given.
THE MEANING
Your labor enters a visible exchange: its compensation can be named, and the one asking for your work promises to give what is named. The verse brings the terms into the open instead of leaving the measure of the exchange unspoken.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that compensation must remain vague until someone else decides it is undone here: the wage is named as part of the arrangement.
THE ROOT
נָקְבָה
nāqĕḇāh
GROWS FROM
נ־ק־ב
To mark or designate; in other uses, to pierce or bore.
“Appoint” in this verse is nāqĕḇāh. Here the verb asks Jacob to mark out the wages precisely. The exchange begins by naming its measure, rather than leaving the terms unspoken.
ALSO GROWS
nāqab: To designate or name; also to pierce or bore.
נָקַב
The sense of designating gives “appoint” the force of making the terms definite.
nāqūḇ: Specified, named.
נָקוּב
This related form makes clear that what is marked out can become a stated term.
שְׂכָרְךָ
śĕḵārḵā
GROWS FROM
ש־כ־ר
Hire, compensation, wages or reward.
“Wages” in this verse is śĕḵārḵā. The root ties the payment to the act of hiring: compensation is the named return for service. The verse holds worker and wage within one exchange.
ALSO GROWS
śāḵār: Wages, hire or reward.
שָׂכָר
This is the noun used for the compensation Jacob is asked to specify.
śāḵîr: A hired person or hireling.
שָׂכִיר
The same root names the worker whose labor is hired as well as the compensation for it.
THE PATTERN
Labor is answered through compensation that is made explicit and then given.
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.THE THREAD
At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.The word translated “hire” grows from the same שכר (ś-k-r) root as “wages” here. This verse opens the exchange further by showing that the named wage is not only a promise; its giving has a time and a human consequence.
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