What Does Judges 18:15 Mean in the King James?
And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
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
At Micah’s house, his name asks “Who is like the LORD?”, the visitors’ “salute” is an asking after the Levite’s שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness).
THE MEANING
A greeting can carry a real question about your wholeness, not just a social acknowledgment. Here, the visitors turn toward a person and ask after his well-being at Micah’s house; Micah’s name asks, “Who is like the LORD?”
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A greeting is empty etiquette with no concern for the other person’s well-being.
THE ROOT
שָׁלוֹם
shalom
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
To be complete or whole; to make whole, restore, or make good.
The English “saluted” hides that the men ask the Levite for shalom. The root’s branches carry both being whole and making good what is owed, so this greeting reaches toward a person’s well-being, not merely a polite exchange.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Complete, whole, sound.
שָׁלֵם
This branch makes the greeting an inquiry into the person’s wholeness, beyond whether conflict is absent.
shillem: Repay, recompense, or make good.
שִׁלֵּם
The same root connects wholeness with making good what is owed or missing; shalom carries a sense of well-being restored.
THE PATTERN
Peace enters an encounter as a spoken request for the other person’s wholeness.
And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.THE THREAD
And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.Exodus 18:7 uses the same Hebrew שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness) in the phrase rendered “asked each other of their welfare.” The shared root reveals that what Judges calls a greeting is an inquiry into another person’s wholeness.
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