What Does Genesis 50:18 Mean in the King James?
And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
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 word translated “servants” carries the root of work and service, turning their bow into a declaration of the role they will take.
THE MEANING
Sometimes what remains between you and another person becomes impossible to keep abstract; the body takes a position, and the mouth names it. Here, the brothers fall before Joseph and say, “we be thy servants.”
THE ROOT
עֲבָדִים
avadim
GROWS FROM
עבד
ʿ-b-d
Work, labor, serve.
“servants” in this verse is avadim. The brothers do not merely take on a title; they name themselves through service. The Hebrew root holds both the person who serves and the work of serving inside their declaration.
ALSO GROWS
eved: A person in service.
עֶבֶד
The brothers’ word is the plural of this noun, identifying themselves through their relation to Joseph.
avodah: Labor or service.
עֲבוֹדָה
The same root includes the work itself, giving their declaration an active, practical sense.
THE PATTERN
Recognition becomes visible when the body bows and the mouth names its relation.
And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.THE THREAD
And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.The Hebrew verb translated “serve” is עָבַד (avad), from the same root as “servants” here. That shared root makes the brothers’ words concrete: they name not only a position before Joseph, but service as an action.
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