What Does Genesis 31:23 Mean in the King James?
And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
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
Laban’s seven-day pursuit ends with a word for clinging: the distance collapses into contact.
THE MEANING
The verse places the reader inside a pursuit that crosses seven days and reaches Jacob in the mountain. “Overtook” comes from a root of clinging, so the chase ends with the pursuer in close contact with the pursued.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A long head start guarantees escape. Seven days of pursuit still end with Laban reaching Jacob.
THE ROOT
וַיִּרְדֹּף
wayyirdōph
GROWS FROM
רדף
to pursue, chase, or run after
“pursued” in this verse is wayyirdōph. The root names a forceful chase, but it does not decide whether that pursuit is hostile or good. In Psalm 23:6, the same root describes goodness pursuing the speaker, so the character of the pursuit depends on what is doing the pursuing.
ALSO GROWS
rōdēph: pursuer; one who is chasing
רֹדֵף
This form makes the agent of the pursuit explicit: Laban is not merely traveling behind Jacob but actively chasing him.
redīfāh: pursuit
רְדִיפָה
This noun names the chase itself, preserving the sustained force of Laban’s seven-day movement after Jacob.
וַיַּדְבֵּק
wayyadbeq
GROWS FROM
דבק
to cling, adhere, or stick close
The verb translated “overtook” is a causative form of the root for clinging or holding fast. The chase therefore ends not merely with Laban behind Jacob, but with the pursuer brought into close contact with him.
ALSO GROWS
dāvaq: to cling or hold fast
דָּבַק
Genesis 2:24 uses this word for a man cleaving to his wife; the same root behind “overtook” carries the sense of closing into attachment.
dāvqāh: she clung; she held fast
דָּבְקָה
Ruth 1:14 uses this form when Ruth clings to Naomi, showing the root’s sense of close adherence that lies beneath the pursuit’s ending here.
THE PATTERN
Pursuit closes distance toward its object, though the purpose of the pursuit can differ.
But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.THE THREAD
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.The Hebrew verb behind “follow” is רדף (radaph, pursue), the same root translated “pursued” in this verse. Genesis shows Laban’s hostile chase; the psalm pictures goodness and חֶסֶד (chesed, faithful love) pursuing the speaker, so the root holds the force of pursuit while its object gives it its character.
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