What Does Job 11:14 Mean in the King James?
If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
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 verse makes wrongdoing a question of both reach and residence: what is held in the hand is sent far off, and what might settle in the dwelling is given no home.
THE MEANING
Here, wrongdoing is addressed in two spaces at once: what lies within reach is moved far away, and what could settle in the dwelling is denied a place to remain. The verse speaks now to the difference between holding wrong close and giving it room to inhabit a household.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that wrongdoing matters only when the hand acts: the verse also names the wrong that is given room to reside.
THE ROOT
תַּשְׁכֵּן
tashken
GROWS FROM
שכן
to settle, inhabit, dwell
The KJV says “tabernacles,” but the Hebrew noun is אָהֶל (ohel), “tent”; the verb “dwell” comes from שכן (shakan), the same root behind מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan), “dwelling place” or “tabernacle.” English hides how the line makes the dwelling itself a place where wrongdoing might settle.
ALSO GROWS
mishkan: dwelling place, tabernacle
מִשְׁכָּן
It shares the seed of dwelling, giving the verb in Job a resonance with a place made for someone or something to dwell.
shakhan: dwell, settle
שָׁכַן
This is the root verb; in Job, the issue is whether wrongdoing is allowed to settle in the tents.
הַרְחִיקֵהוּ
harḥiqehu
GROWS FROM
רחק
to be far; to make distant
“put it far away” in this verse is harḥiqehu. The Hebrew imperative means to make it distant, giving the command a concrete spatial force. The verse describes a change in wrongdoing’s proximity to the hand, not merely a label placed on it.
ALSO GROWS
raḥoq: far, distant
רָחוֹק
This adjective shares the root and names the distance the verse commands.
merḥaq: distance, a distant place
מֶרְחָק
This noun makes explicit the spatial idea carried by the verb: wrongdoing is sent out of close reach.
עַוְלָה
ʿavlah
GROWS FROM
עול
to act wrongly or unjustly
“Wickedness” can sound like a broad label, while עַוְלָה (ʿavlah) names wrong or injustice. The verse pairs what is held in the hand with injustice as a presence that might take up residence.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāwel: wrong, injustice
עָוֶל
This related form names the injustice that the verse refuses a dwelling place.
ʿawwāl: an unjust person
עַוָּל
This branch applies the same root family to one marked by unjust dealing, showing how the word can name both wrongdoing and its doer.
THE PATTERN
Wrong is portrayed as something removed from reach and denied a place to settle.
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.Neither give place to the devil.Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.THE THREAD
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.Job’s “let … dwell” and Exodus’s “that I may dwell” share the root שכן (shakan), “to dwell, settle.” Job names what is denied a home; Exodus uses the same root for the presence that dwells among people.
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