What Does Genesis 34:25 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
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 root behind “sore” names physical pain and grief, carrying more than a passing ache into the scene of slaughter.
THE MEANING
Here, physical pain and mass killing occupy the same moment: the men of the city are hurting, and Simeon and Levi kill every male. Vulnerability becomes the opening through which violence is carried out, and the verse names the full scale plainly.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that retaliation remains confined to the person who caused an injury: the violence reaches every male in the city.
THE ROOT
כֹּאֲבִים
ko’avim
GROWS FROM
כאב
To hurt, ache, or be in pain.
The root כאב (ka’av, to hurt or ache) can name bodily pain and grief. English “sore” can sound like a passing ache, but the same root appears for grief in Job 2:13, bringing physical suffering and inward anguish into one word family as the slaughter begins.
ALSO GROWS
ke’ev: Pain or ache.
כְּאֵב
This noun from the same root is used for Job’s “grief,” linking the city’s bodily pain with anguish.
makh’ov: Pain or suffering.
מַכְאוֹב
This related form keeps the root’s sense of hurt visible, showing that the word for being sore belongs to a wider vocabulary of suffering.
בֶּטַח
betaḥ
GROWS FROM
בטח
To trust, feel secure, or act with confidence.
The root בטח (bataḥ, to trust or feel secure) gives “boldly” a shade of assurance or security, not courage alone. That confidence stands against the city’s vulnerability as the attackers advance.
ALSO GROWS
bataḥ: To trust or feel confident.
בָּטַח
This verb makes the confidence contained in betaḥ explicit.
mivtaḥ: A refuge, security, or object of trust.
מִבְטָח
This noun shows how the root can describe felt safety, sharpening the contrast with the city’s exposed condition.
THE PATTERN
A wound answered with human wrath becomes another act of violence, not restoration.
And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.THE THREAD
So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.Genesis uses כֹּאֲבִים (ko’avim, aching or in pain), from כאב (ka’av, to hurt); Job uses כְּאֵב (ke’ev, pain or grief) from the same root. The shared root holds bodily ache and inward anguish together, connecting the city’s pain with grief that others can see.
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