What Does Joshua 10:22 Mean in the King James?
Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave.
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 cave’s mouth becomes a threshold: its hidden kings are commanded into the open.
THE MEANING
The verse shows rulers concealed inside a closed place being brought directly before Joshua by a spoken command. Their emergence is the step that makes the next action possible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that concealment makes power unreachable gives way: the cave cannot keep its kings beyond the reach of the command.
THE ROOT
פִּתְחוּ
pithḥu
GROWS FROM
פתח
p-t-ḥ
To open, making an enclosed space accessible.
“Open” in this verse is pithḥu. The command uses the root for opening at the cave’s own mouth, turning concealment into a passage. Hebrew makes the threshold vivid: the kings are not approached inside the cave but ordered through its opening.
ALSO GROWS
petach: An opening or doorway.
פֶּתַח
The cave’s mouth becomes a doorway through which its hidden contents must pass.
pittûaḥ: Engraving or carved work.
פִּתּוּחַ
The same root can describe a surface opened by carving, bringing what is marked into view.
וְהוֹצִיאוּ
wehôṣîʾû
GROWS FROM
יצא
y-ṣ-ʾ
To go out or emerge; in this verb form, to cause something to come out.
“Bring out” in this verse is wehôṣîʾû. The Hebrew verb makes the movement explicit: the kings are caused to emerge from the cave and brought to Joshua. The root holds both the act of going out and the act of bringing something out, joining emergence with exposure.
ALSO GROWS
yāṣāʾ: To go out, come forth, or emerge.
יָצָא
The kings’ movement from the cave is an instance of the root’s basic sense: coming out.
môṣāʾ: An outlet, source, or going forth.
מוֹצָא
The word can name where something comes out; here the cave’s mouth is the outlet through which the kings emerge.
הַמְּלָכִים
hamməlāḵîm
GROWS FROM
מלך
m-l-k
To reign or exercise rule.
“Kings” in this verse is hamməlāḵîm. These are not unnamed captives but rulers, and the Hebrew root ties the title of king to the act of reigning. The command brings concentrated authority out of hiding and places it before Joshua.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: King.
מֶלֶךְ
The verse names the five men by the ruling office they hold.
mamlākhāh: Kingdom or realm of rule.
מַמְלָכָה
The kings carry the visible face of a wider realm; bringing them out exposes its rulers.
mālaḵ: To reign or become king.
מָלַךְ
The verb makes clear that kingship is an action of rule, not merely a label.
THE PATTERN
What is hidden can be brought into view, where it becomes exposed to what follows.
He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.THE THREAD
And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.The same Hebrew root יצא (y-ṣ-ʾ), “go out” or “bring out,” continues the movement from the cave into the open. The next verse shows its concrete consequence: the kings are brought out and their necks placed under the captains’ feet.
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