What Does Joel 2:27 Mean in the King James?
And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
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 people’s freedom from shame rests on recognizing that God is already in their midst.
THE MEANING
You know the LORD as present within the people: he is your God, and there is none else. His people are not left in shame; the presence they recognize is the ground of their belonging.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that shame is permanent and that you stand alone before God.
THE ROOT
בְּקֶרֶב
bəqerev
GROWS FROM
ק-ר-ב
To approach or draw near; as a noun, the inner part or midst.
The word translated “midst” belongs to the same root family as words for nearness and approach. God is not pictured as distant from the people: his presence is within their shared life.
ALSO GROWS
qarov: Near
קָרוֹב
This branch links “midst” with nearness, making God’s presence more than a distant claim.
qorban: Drawing near
קָרְבָּן
This branch carries the root’s movement toward nearness, echoing the closeness named in the verse.
וִידַעְתֶּם
vida'tem
GROWS FROM
י-ד-ע
To know, recognize, or perceive.
“know” in this verse is vida'tem. Yada carries knowing through recognition and encounter, not detached information alone. The people come to recognize the presence already among them, so the verse’s assurance is personal and lived.
ALSO GROWS
da'at: Knowledge, knowing
דַּעַת
The same root names knowledge itself, tying the people’s knowing to recognition of God’s presence.
yodea: One who knows or perceives
יוֹדֵעַ
This form describes a knower, reinforcing that the verse speaks of a relationship recognized from within.
THE PATTERN
Recognized divine nearness turns exposure into confidence.
They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.THE THREAD
The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.Joel’s “midst” belongs to the same ק-ר-ב (q-r-b) root family as “nigh” here. Both verses reveal divine presence as nearness: God is among the people and near to each who calls.
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