What Does Genesis 31:13 Mean in the King James?

I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

Genesis 31:13 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The call to return carries the promise of being brought back, so departure is held inside restoration.

THE MEANING

This verse speaks now as a summons grounded in an encounter and a vow: rise, leave this land, and return to the land of your kindred. The movement joins departure to a turn toward belonging. The one who names the encounter remains present through the transition.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that leaving a place means the encounter and vow there have been lost; the same voice that names them also calls the return.

THE ROOT

וְשׁוּב

ve-shuv

GROWS FROM

שׁוּב

Turn back; return.

The verb translated “return” belongs to a root also used for bringing someone back or restoring what has been displaced. Here, movement away from this land is framed as a turn toward renewed belonging, not mere escape.

ALSO GROWS

yāshūv: He returns; he will return.

יָשׁוּב

This form retains the root’s consonants ⁨ש־ו־ב⁩ and shows return as a renewed turn, not a one-way departure.

teshuvah: Return, turning; also answer.

תְּשׁוּבָה

Return and response share this root family, so the command can be heard as a response that turns toward the named relationship.

THE PATTERN

The divine call redirects movement toward belonging, whether it begins with departure or return.

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

Genesis 12:1 · KJVAbram is called to leave country and kin for a land the LORD will show, echoing the summons to move under divine direction.

O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

Hosea 14:1 · KJVThe root ⁨שׁוּב⁩ (shuv, “return”) names the turn toward God as a movement back into relationship.

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

Luke 15:18 · KJVThe son’s decision to arise and go to his father makes return a movement back into kinship, like the return to the land of kindred.

THE THREAD

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

Genesis 28:15 · KJV

Genesis 28:15 promises to “bring thee again into this land.” The Hebrew root ⁨שׁוּב⁩ (shuv, “return, bring back”) underlies that promise and the command here: what was promised as being brought back now becomes the instruction to return.

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