What Does Joshua 22:23 Mean in the King James?
That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;
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 accusation is placed under the LORD’s own search: the altar’s meaning cannot be settled by its appearance.
THE MEANING
The verse makes the charge answerable to the LORD himself: if the altar expresses rebellion or is used for offerings, he is the one who seeks and requires the matter. A sacred act does not settle what it expresses; its allegiance remains open before him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A sacred altar or offering automatically proves allegiance to God. The verse allows for the same outward act to be rebellion and places that question under the LORD’s judgment.
THE ROOT
יְבַקֵּשׁ
yevaqqesh
GROWS FROM
בקשׁ
b-q-sh
To seek, look for, or request; in this clause, to seek out or require the matter.
The word behind “require” carries the sense of seeking: the speakers put the charge into the LORD’s hands to seek out and demand an answer for it. The verse makes divine inquiry, rather than human accusation alone, the measure of what the altar means.
ALSO GROWS
mevaqqesh: One who seeks; a seeker.
מְבַקֵּשׁ
The shared root keeps the focus on actively searching out what is true.
baqqashah: A request or petition.
בַּקָּשָׁה
The root also names what is asked for, connecting seeking with a matter brought forward for an answer.
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
To be whole or complete; in related forms, to make whole or repay.
The offerings called “peace offerings” carry the language of wholeness in their name. Their mention beside the charge of rebellion holds together two possibilities: an altar can be associated with wholeness, yet its purpose still has to be brought before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being, peace.
שָׁלוֹם
This is the familiar branch of the same root, showing the depth behind the offering’s name.
shalem: Whole, complete, intact.
שָׁלֵם
It makes explicit the completeness carried by the language of these offerings.
shillem: To repay or make restitution.
שִׁלֵּם
This branch links wholeness with making good what is owed, echoing the verse’s appeal to the LORD to require an account.
לִמְרֹד
limrod
GROWS FROM
מרד
m-r-d
To rebel or revolt against authority.
“turn from following the LORD” in this verse is limrod. The Hebrew verb names rebellion against the LORD; the KJV phrase “turn from following” presents that rupture as a departure from allegiance. The issue is not simply the presence of an altar, but whether it expresses revolt against the one being followed.
ALSO GROWS
mered: Rebellion or revolt.
מֶרֶד
The noun makes explicit the rupture named by the verb in this verse.
moreid: A rebel; one who rebels.
מֹרֵד
This branch turns the act into the identity of the one who breaks allegiance.
THE PATTERN
The LORD searches past outward acts and brings the heart’s hidden allegiance into view.
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.Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.THE THREAD
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.Joshua’s “require” is יְבַקֵּשׁ (yevaqqesh, “seek or require”), from בקשׁ (baqash, “seek”), the same root behind Jeremiah’s “ye shall seek me.” The shared root connects the LORD’s search for an answer here with the wholehearted seeking of God there.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us