What Does Judges 13:3 Mean in the King James?
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
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 Hebrew word for “barren” shares its root with “uproot,” yet the verse speaks conception and birth into that very condition.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two truths together for you now: barrenness is real, and it does not exhaust what can still come to birth. Its promise speaks a future into the very place where nothing has yet appeared.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what is barren now can never bring forth anything.
THE ROOT
עֲקָרָה
ʿăqārāh
GROWS FROM
עקר
to uproot or pluck up
“Barren” belongs to the same root as “uproot,” giving the word a texture beyond a label for childlessness. The verse names that condition plainly, then speaks conception and birth into the same sentence.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāqar: to uproot or pluck up
עָקַר
This verb carries the root-image behind the word for barrenness.
ʿăqārāh: a barren woman
עֲקָרָה
This is the form used for the woman in the verse, where the root-image meets the promise of conception.
וְיָלַדְתְּ
wə-yāladət
GROWS FROM
ילד
to bear, give birth, or beget
The verb for bearing and the word for “child” share this root, binding the act of bringing forth to the one brought forth. The future is spoken as a bodily sequence: conceive, then bear.
ALSO GROWS
yālad: to bear, give birth, or beget
יָלַד
This is the verb-family of the promise that the woman will bear a son.
yeled: child or boy
יֶלֶד
The child named by this root is the one brought forth through the act of bearing.
וַיֵּרָא
wayyērāʾ
GROWS FROM
ראה
to see, look, or perceive; in this form, to be seen or appear
“Appeared” comes from the same root as “see,” so the messenger’s appearance is what becomes visible to the woman. The verse begins with something coming into view before it speaks of a future not yet seen.
ALSO GROWS
rāʾāh: to see, look, or perceive
רָאָה
This is the root verb behind the form translated “appeared.”
marʾeh: sight, vision, or appearance
מַרְאֶה
This related form makes the link between seeing and what appears explicit.
THE PATTERN
A promise of birth meets a condition named as barren and speaks beyond what is presently possible.
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.THE THREAD
For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.The Hebrew verbs for “conceived” and “bare” here are the same roots used in the promise of Judges 13:3. The paired words show the promised future taking bodily form: conception, then birth.
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