What Does Judges 18:7 Mean in the King James?
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.
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 verse calls them secure with a word rooted in trust, yet leaves unnamed what their trust rests on.
THE MEANING
Quiet, distance, and freedom from correction can feel like complete safety. But confidence does not name its own foundation: here no protector is named, and the people are described as far from their neighbors and unconnected to anyone else. Isolation can resemble peace while leaving protection untested.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A quiet, self-contained life is proof that nothing can reach me.
THE ROOT
בֹּטֵחַ
bōṭēaḥ
GROWS FROM
בטח
b-ṭ-ḥ
To trust, rely confidently, or feel secure.
The verse uses בֹּטֵחַ (bōṭēaḥ, secure/confident), from the same word family as trust and refuge. English can make security sound like a settled condition; the root carries confidence beneath it, while the verse leaves that confidence’s support unnamed.
ALSO GROWS
bāṭaḥ: To trust, rely on, or feel secure.
בָּטַח
This verb shows that trust and the feeling of security belong to the same root family.
mivṭāḥ: Security, confidence, or refuge.
מִבְטָח
This noun makes the question of refuge audible beneath the people’s claim of security: what, if anything, is their confidence resting in?
דָּבָר
dāḇār
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; a word, matter, or thing.
The phrase rendered “had no business with any man” uses דָּבָר (dāḇār, word or matter), so it can also be heard as having no word or matter with anyone. The wording makes their distance social as well as geographic: their quiet is surrounded by disconnection.
ALSO GROWS
dibbēr: He spoke or communicated.
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form brings speech into the phrase: there is no word passing between them and anyone else.
dĕvārîm: Words, matters, or things.
דְּבָרִים
This plural shows how a word can also mean a matter or affair, illuminating the breadth of KJV “business.”
THE PATTERN
A community’s sense of security depends on what shelters or guides it, while isolation can leave that security’s ground unspoken.
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.THE THREAD
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.The psalm’s בֶּטַח (beṭaḥ, safety) comes from the same root as “secure” here. It names the source of that safety, the LORD, so the contrast makes the unstated foundation of Laish’s confidence stand out.
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