What Does Genesis 33:20 Mean in the King James?
And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.
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 altar’s name turns a place of offering into a declaration of belonging: God is the God of Israel.
THE MEANING
The verse joins a tangible place with a spoken recognition: God is the God of Israel. The name makes that relationship visible and gives the altar its witness. Encounter here takes shape in both what is built and what is called aloud.
THE ROOT
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbeach
GROWS FROM
זבח
to slaughter or sacrifice
The word for altar grows from the root for sacrifice, so the altar is named for what takes place there. Its name then carries the offering into a declaration about who God is to Israel.
ALSO GROWS
zavach: to sacrifice or slaughter
זָבַח
This verb shows the altar’s root in the act of offering.
zevach: a sacrifice or sacrificial meal
זֶבַח
The offering can also become a shared meal, joining sacrifice to a lived relationship.
וַיִּקְרָא
wayyiqra
GROWS FROM
קרא
to call, proclaim, or summon
“called” in this verse is wayyiqra. The Hebrew verb carries the sense of speaking something into the open, not merely assigning it a label. The altar’s name is a public declaration: El, the God of Israel.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: a reading or assembly
מִקְרָא
This branch shows how calling can gather people around words that are spoken aloud.
qeri'ah: a calling or reading aloud
קְרִיאָה
It makes the spoken quality of the altar’s name audible: this is a proclamation of relationship.
THE PATTERN
An offering becomes a witness when it is joined to the name of the one recognized there.
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.THE THREAD
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.Both verses use קרא (qara), “call,” alongside an altar. Genesis 12:8 calls upon the LORD’s name; here the altar itself receives a name, making the declaration part of the place.
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