What Does Hebrews 9:20 Mean in the King James?
Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
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
Covenant here is a bond set in place and made visible in blood.
THE MEANING
God’s covenant reaches you as a binding relation marked in blood, not as an abstract promise. The wording joins God’s command to a visible sign, so the promise carries a claim in the present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the idea that covenant is only an inward intention or spoken promise: here it is enacted and marked in blood.
THE ROOT
διαθήκη
diathēkē
GROWS FROM
τίθημι (tithēmi), carried through διατίθημι (diatithēmi)
To set or place; with διά (dia), to arrange or establish.
“testament” in this verse is diathēkē. The Greek word for covenant carries the sense of a relation set in place, not an idea left open. Blood makes that established bond visible, and “unto you” brings its reach close.
ALSO GROWS
diatithēmi: To arrange, dispose, or establish.
διατίθημι
This verb family names putting a covenant in order, showing the relation as established.
tithēmi: To put, set, or place.
τίθημι
Its concrete sense of setting something in place illuminates covenant as a relation established, not merely discussed.
THE PATTERN
Covenant takes concrete form through a sign or inscription that binds God’s promise to the people.
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.THE THREAD
And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.Hebrews 9:20 echoes this declaration, joining “the blood of the covenant” to the words God enjoins “unto you.” Beside Exodus, the blood marks a bond joined to a spoken commitment.
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