What Does Joshua 22:22 Mean in the King James?

The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)
Joshua 22:22 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

The speaker places deliverance at risk if the charge is true, because God’s knowing reaches what public suspicion cannot.

Your hidden motive is known by the LORD, and what is true can become known among the people. The verse lets the charge be tested without evasion: if there is rebellion or betrayal, the speaker asks for no deliverance today. The repeated divine title places that claim under the fullest authority named.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A crowd’s suspicion is not itself proof; the verse places truth under God’s knowledge and open testing.

יֹדֵעַ

yōdēaʿ

GROWS FROM

ידע

y-d-ʿ

To know or perceive.

“knoweth” in this verse is yōdēaʿ. The verse uses this root twice: God knows, and Israel will know. English makes these sound like separate statements, while the Hebrew joins divine knowing and knowledge becoming public on one verbal seed.

ALSO GROWS

daʿat: knowledge, understanding

דַּעַת

It shows how knowing can take form as what is understood and shared.

hodiʿa: to make known, inform

הוֹדִיעַ

This branch echoes the movement from what God knows to what Israel comes to know.

מֶרֶד

mered

GROWS FROM

מרד

m-r-d

To rebel, to resist authority.

The verse names rebellion as an active resistance, then pairs it with betrayal. That pairing leaves room for more than one kind of breach in the accusation being tested.

ALSO GROWS

marad: to rebel

מָרַד

The verb presents rebellion as an enacted refusal, not merely a mistaken impression.

mored: a rebel, one who rebels

מוֹרֵד

The related form names the person by the stance at issue in the verse.

תוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ

tôšîʿēnû

GROWS FROM

ישע

y-sh-ʿ

To deliver from a constricted or endangered condition.

“save” in this verse is tôšîʿēnû. The speaker does not treat deliverance as a shield against the truth: if rebellion is real, the request is that no deliverance come that day. The same root also names deliverance itself, so the verse holds rescue and honest exposure together.

ALSO GROWS

yeshuah: deliverance

יְשׁוּעָה

It names the release from danger that the speaker conditionally refuses.

moshia: deliverer

מוֹשִׁיעַ

It names the one who brings deliverance, placing the appeal under the LORD’s judgment.

What God knows beneath appearances can become known openly in its time.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Psalm 139:1 · KJVThe LORD’s knowledge reaches the person beneath what can be seen from the outside.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7 · KJVThe verse distinguishes human appearances from what the LORD sees within.
And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Acts 15:8 · KJVGod’s knowledge of hearts becomes a witness others can recognize.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Psalm 139:1 · KJV

The Hebrew verb for “known” shares the root used when Joshua 22:22 says the LORD knows and Israel will know. Here that knowing reaches the searched interior, tying what is hidden before God to what can come into the open.

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Joshua 22:22 KJV Meaning