What Does Genesis 47:27 Mean in the King James?
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
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
Israel’s life takes root in Egypt, yet the narrow place cannot set the measure of its increase.
THE MEANING
You can dwell in a constricted place while life within you still bears fruit and multiplies. Israel has a foothold there, and its increase becomes exceedingly great. The narrowness is real, but it does not define the measure of what is growing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that growth must wait until the constricting place is gone.
THE ROOT
וַיִּפְרוּ
vayyifru
GROWS FROM
פרה
To bear fruit, be fruitful.
The word translated “grew” carries the language of bearing fruit, the same root that names fruit itself. Israel’s increase is pictured as life producing fruit, not simply getting bigger.
ALSO GROWS
peri: Fruit
פְּרִי
This noun makes the root’s picture tangible: what grows is fruit that can be seen and gathered.
hifrāh: Made fruitful; caused to bear fruit
הִפְרָה
This causative form extends the root from bearing fruit to producing fruitfulness, echoing how the verse describes increase across a people.
וַיִּרְבּוּ
vayyirbu
GROWS FROM
רבה
To increase, become many.
“multiplied” in this verse is vayyirbu. The word means becoming many, and its family also names abundance and greatness. Beside fruit-bearing, it shows that the growth here is both generative and multiplying.
ALSO GROWS
rov: Abundance; multitude
רֹב
This noun gives the verb’s increase a sense of abundance rather than mere survival.
rav: Many; great
רַב
This related word carries the same movement toward many and great, illuminating the scale of Israel’s increase.
וַיֵּאָחֲזוּ
wayye’ahazu
GROWS FROM
אחז
To grasp, seize, or take hold.
The verb behind “had possessions” pictures taking hold of or settling into a place. Its word family keeps a tangible sense in the line: Israel’s life is not only increasing; it has gained a foothold in the land.
ALSO GROWS
achuzzah: Holding; possession
אֲחֻזָּה
This related noun names a holding or possession, making the verse’s foothold in the land concrete.
achuz: Held; seized
אָחוּז
This form preserves the root’s sense of something grasped or held, connecting possession with taking hold of a place.
THE PATTERN
Fruitfulness and increase can unfold within the place where life is planted.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.THE THREAD
And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.Exodus 1:7 repeats the roots behind “grew” and “multiplied”: פָּרָה (parah), to bear fruit, and רָבָה (ravah), to become many. It says the land is filled with them, revealing growth that fills its setting even when that setting is Egypt.
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