What Does Genesis 6:22 Mean in the King James?
Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
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 verb translated “did” is also used for God’s making of the firmament, so Noah’s carrying out the command is cast as making.
THE MEANING
What reaches you as instruction becomes visible in the world through what you do. The repeated verb holds command and completion together: Noah acts “according to all” that is commanded, and “so did he.”
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that instruction and action are separate: the repeated Hebrew verb also means “make,” binding the received command to its completion.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעַשׂ
vayya'as
GROWS FROM
עשה
to do, make, accomplish
The verse uses this verb twice: Noah “did” what was commanded, and “so did he.” The same root describes God making the firmament in Genesis 1:7, giving Noah’s action the shade of making something take form.
ALSO GROWS
asah: do, make
עָשָׂה
The root holds both senses together: the action Noah does is also an act of making.
ma'aseh: deed, work
מַעֲשֶׂה
This related noun names action as a completed work, bringing the command into tangible form.
צִוָּה
tsivvah
GROWS FROM
צוה
to command, charge, appoint
“commanded” in this verse is tsivvah. The command is not left as speech alone: the verse places it beside the repeated עשׂה, the doing that gives it form. The related word mitzvah keeps the same root connection between a charge and what is carried out.
ALSO GROWS
mitzvah: commandment, charge
מִצְוָה
The command Noah carries out belongs to the same word family as mitzvah.
tsav: command, precept
צַו
This short form keeps the root’s sense of an instruction assigned for action.
THE PATTERN
Received instruction becomes visible through the action that carries it out.
Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.THE THREAD
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.The verb עשה appears twice in Genesis 6:22 and also describes God making the firmament here. That shared root lets Noah’s carrying out of the command echo an act of making: what is spoken takes shape in the world.
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