What Does Judges 1:23 Mean in the King James?
And the house of Joseph sent to descry Beth-el. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.)
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 search reaches a place held under two names: Bethel (בֵּית־אֵל, Bēt-ʾĒl, “house of God”) and its earlier name Luz (לוּז, Lūz, “almond tree”).
THE MEANING
You encounter a place through active searching, and the search reaches a name with another name beneath it. Bethel (בֵּית־אֵל, Bēt-ʾĒl, “house of God”) stands beside Luz (לוּז, Lūz, “almond tree”), its earlier name. The place is encountered through both its present name and the nature preserved in its former one.
THE ROOT
וַיָּתִירוּ
wayyātîrû
GROWS FROM
ת־ו־ר
to range through, explore, or search out
The Hebrew verb describes deliberate exploration through a place, not simply seeing it from a distance. “Descry” can sound like a single glance, while the root holds a movement through the unknown.
ALSO GROWS
lātūr: to explore or search out
לָתוּר
The infinitive presents searching as an active ranging through what is not yet known.
veyāturū: that they may search out
וְיָתֻרוּ
The same root describes the scouts’ exploration of Canaan in Numbers 13:2.
בֵּית־אֵל
Bēt-ʾĒl
GROWS FROM
ב־י־ת
house, dwelling, or household
“Bethel” in this verse is Bēt-ʾĒl. The name describes a dwelling by what it is related to: God. Biblical place-names such as Bēt-Leḥem (“house of bread”) likewise carry a quality within the word “house.”
ALSO GROWS
bayit: house or dwelling
בַּיִת
This is the house-word carried inside Bethel’s name.
Bēt-Leḥem: house of bread
בֵּית־לֶחֶם
Like Bethel, this place-name identifies a dwelling through what it holds.
THE PATTERN
What lies ahead becomes knowable through deliberate seeking.
Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:THE THREAD
Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.Both verses use the root ת־ו־ר (t-w-r; tūr), meaning “to search out” or “explore.” Numbers makes the exploratory movement explicit: the land is ranged through before it is entered.
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