What Does Job 1:4 Mean in the King James?
And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
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 word for “feasted” grows from the same root as “to drink,” so the drink is already inside the name of the feast.
THE MEANING
Each brother holds a feast in his own house on his appointed day, then sends for his sisters to eat and drink with him. The invitation carries the meal beyond one household, giving family belonging a shared, tangible form.
THE ROOT
מִשְׁתֶּה
mishteh
GROWS FROM
שתה
to drink
The word translated “feasted” means a drinking-feast and comes from the same root as the later “to drink.” English separates the celebration from the drinking, while Hebrew names the feast through it.
ALSO GROWS
shatah: to drink
שָׁתָה
This is the verb behind “to drink” later in the verse, linking the feast’s name to the action at the table.
shetiyah: drinking
שְׁתִיָּה
This noun from the same root keeps the focus on drinking as part of the shared gathering.
וְשָׁלְחוּ
ve-shalḥu
GROWS FROM
שלח
to send forth, release
“sent” in this verse is ve-shalḥu. Before the sisters share the meal, the brothers send for them. The root opens the feast outward: the gathering includes an act of reaching beyond the home.
ALSO GROWS
shaliach: messenger, delegate
שָׁלִיחַ
A messenger carries something sent outward, echoing how the brothers extend their gathering to their sisters.
shulchan: table
שֻׁלְחָן
The table is provision extended to those invited; here, the brothers’ sending makes room for their sisters at the meal.
Shiloach: sent water or channel
שִׁלֹחַ
The name preserves the sense of what is sent forth, like the invitation that carries the feast beyond each brother’s house.
THE PATTERN
A shared meal makes belonging visible by bringing others into its food and joy.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,THE THREAD
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.Nehemiah’s verse joins the same roots found here: it speaks of drinking and sending portions outward. The feast expands when what is shared reaches beyond the table to others.
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