What Does Genesis 46:2 Mean in the King James?
And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
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 sentence calls him Israel, but the voice calls Jacob twice: the encounter reaches the person through the name that still carries his story.
THE MEANING
The night is still a place where you are seen and called personally. The verse holds Israel in the narration and Jacob in the direct address, letting both names stand in one encounter. “Here am I” answers the doubled call with immediate presence.
THE ROOT
יַעֲקֹב
Yaʿaqov
GROWS FROM
עקב
Heel; following or taking by the heel.
Genesis links Jacob’s name to the heel: he comes holding Esau’s heel, and later Esau connects the name with supplanting. Here, that storied name is spoken twice to the one the narration calls Israel.
ALSO GROWS
ʿaqev: Heel
עָקֵב
The heel is the name’s concrete root image, carried into the direct address.
ʿaqav: To follow at the heel; to supplant
עָקַב
This branch gives Jacob’s name its sense of a story still present when the voice calls him.
מַרְאוֹת
marʾot
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see.
“Visions” grows from the verb “to see”: the night is described as a place of seeing, not merely darkness containing speech. Within that seeing, the voice calls Jacob by name.
ALSO GROWS
marʾeh: Appearance; vision
מַרְאֶה
This related form shows the vision as something seen or appearing.
roʾeh: Seer; one who sees
רֹאֶה
The root keeps the act of seeing present within the word translated “visions.”
וַיֹּאמֶר
wayyomer
GROWS FROM
אמר
To say; speak.
“said” in this verse is wayyomer. The same verb frames both sides of the encounter: God says Jacob’s name, and Jacob answers, “Here am I.” The vision becomes an exchange, with speech answered by speech.
ALSO GROWS
leʾmor: Saying; to say
לֵאמֹר
This form introduces spoken words, as the repeated name introduces the call.
ʾimrah: Utterance; saying
אִמְרָה
This noun shows speech as something carried from the speaker, linking the divine call and Jacob’s reply.
THE PATTERN
A doubled name marks a direct encounter: the voice meets the person before disclosing what the encounter requires.
And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?THE THREAD
And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.The doubled name is answered by the exact same “Here am I,” making the repeated call a recognizable shape of direct encounter. There, the voice stops Abraham’s hand; here, the same form meets Jacob in the night.
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