What Does Genesis 43:28 Mean in the King James?
And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
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 answer names their father’s shalom, wholeness, before saying he is alive, so well-being exceeds bare survival.
THE MEANING
A loved one’s condition holds two dimensions at once: shalom, wholeness, and the simple fact of continued life. The bowed head and obeisance make the answer visible in the body, so well-being is spoken and embodied.
THE ROOT
שָׁלוֹם
shalom
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or intact.
The Hebrew says shalom where the KJV says “good health”; the same root gives words for what is whole and complete. The father’s condition is named as wholeness, while “he is yet alive” separately names his continuing life.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete.
שָׁלֵם
It lets “good health” resonate as wholeness, a condition broader than calm.
shillem: To make good, repay, or restore.
שִׁלֵּם
This branch carries the movement of making something whole again, linking the root’s sense of wholeness with restoration.
חָי
chai
GROWS FROM
חיה
ḥ-y-h
To live, or be alive.
The verse holds shalom and chai together without collapsing them into one idea: wholeness describes his condition, and chai describes his continued life. The distinction makes clear that well-being means more than merely being alive.
ALSO GROWS
chayyim: Life.
חַיִּים
The shared root keeps the father’s continuing life close to the word for being alive.
chayah: A living creature.
חַיָּה
This branch carries the root’s sense of living presence into the word for a living being.
THE PATTERN
Scripture places wholeness beside life, showing that well-being includes more than mere survival.
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.THE THREAD
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.Genesis uses שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness) where the KJV says “good health”; Proverbs uses that same Hebrew word alongside long life. The shared root opens the answer beyond a report of survival: wholeness and the continuation of life can be named together.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us