What Does Joshua 4:13 Mean in the King James?
About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.
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 far side of a crossing can be a battlefield, not a finish line.
THE MEANING
You can cross a threshold and still find conflict waiting on the far side. Here, the people reach Jericho’s plains equipped for battle and before the LORD. Arrival and danger occupy the same moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that making it across means the danger is over dissolves here: the crossing brings the people to the plains where battle waits.
THE ROOT
עָבְרוּ
avru
GROWS FROM
עָבַר
ʿavar
to cross over, pass through
“passed over” in this verse is avru. The verb names the passage to the far side, while its branches also name the far side itself and the passage between sides. In this verse, crossing is real, but it leads directly to the next terrain: the armed people reach Jericho’s plains and battle.
ALSO GROWS
eber: the other side, beyond
עֵבֶר
The root holds both the act of crossing and the far side reached by that crossing.
ma’avar: a passage or crossing
מַעֲבָר
This branch names the route between sides, echoing the people’s movement through a threshold toward what comes next.
THE PATTERN
Crossing carries people through a threshold into the next terrain; it does not make danger disappear.
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.THE THREAD
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.Isaiah uses the same Hebrew root for passing through waters that Joshua uses for crossing over. Together, the verses hold passage and danger in the same frame: the crossing happens through the terrain, not around it.
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