What Does Genesis 38:21 Mean in the King James?
Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
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 Hebrew word rendered “harlot” here shares its root with “holy,” carrying a buried sense of being set apart.
THE MEANING
The public description and the community’s account do not align: the woman is described as visible by the road, yet the answer says no such woman is in that place. The Hebrew noun carries a sense of being set apart, giving the label a depth the English word does not display. For you now, the gap keeps appearance, naming, and confirmed reality distinct.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A visible appearance is enough to establish a person’s whole identity.
THE ROOT
קְדֵשָׁה
qĕdēšāh
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
Set apart; consecrated.
“harlot” in this verse is qĕdēšāh. English makes the term sound like a plain sexual label, but Hebrew gives it a set-apart register through קדש. Its shared root with words for what is set apart makes the designation more charged than English alone shows.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart; holy.
קָדוֹשׁ
The same root links the woman’s designation to the language of holiness and consecration.
qodesh: That which is set apart; holiness.
קֹדֶשׁ
This branch makes the root’s underlying idea visible: the word-family turns on being set apart.
THE PATTERN
A visible appearance cannot by itself establish the full truth of a person’s identity.
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.THE THREAD
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.Leviticus calls the LORD קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh), from the same קדש root as קְדֵשָׁה (qĕdēšāh) in Genesis. That shared root gives the roadside designation a set-apart resonance English hides, without making the words synonymous.
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