What Does Judges 3:13 Mean in the King James?
And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.
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 for “possessed” can also mean “dispossess”: the blow against Israel and the taking of the city are one sequence.
THE MEANING
Power gathers allies, strikes Israel, and takes the city of palms. The Hebrew word for taking possession also carries the sense of dispossessing, keeping the cost of that transfer inside the word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that possession is neutral: here, taking the city follows a blow against Israel.
THE ROOT
וַיִּירְשׁוּ
wayyirshu
GROWS FROM
י־ר־שׁ
y-r-sh
To take possession or inherit; in a causative form, to dispossess.
This root can describe both inheriting land and driving out its holder. So “possessed” here names a transfer that carries displacement within it, not a neutral state of ownership.
ALSO GROWS
yarash: To inherit or take possession.
יָרַשׁ
This is the root behind the verse’s word for taking the city.
horish: To dispossess or drive out.
הוֹרִישׁ
This causative form makes visible the displacement that can accompany possession.
וַיַּךְ
wayyakh
GROWS FROM
נ־כ־ה
n-k-h
To strike or inflict a blow.
“smote” in this verse is wayyakh. The same root names both the striking action and the blow or affliction it leaves behind. The verse places that concrete harm directly before the taking of territory.
ALSO GROWS
nakah: To strike or smite.
נָכָה
It is the action in the verse: Israel is struck.
makkah: A blow, wound, or plague.
מַכָּה
The noun branch keeps the inflicted consequence close to the striking verb.
וַיֶּאֱסֹף
wayye’esof
GROWS FROM
א־ס־ף
a-s-p
To gather, collect, or bring in.
“gathered” in this verse is wayye’esof. The passage begins with gathering before it reaches the blow. The same root can describe an ingathering, placing the assembly of allies and the act of collecting within one word family.
ALSO GROWS
asaph: To gather or collect.
אָסַף
This is the action used as Eglon brings the allies together.
asif: Ingathering or harvest.
אָסִיף
This branch shows the root’s broader sense of drawing things together before the verse turns to attack.
THE PATTERN
Concentrated power turns coalition into a strike and the strike into control over people and place.
The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.THE THREAD
Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.“Possess” here comes from the same Hebrew root, ירשׁ (yarash), meaning to inherit or take possession. Deuteronomy places taking possession beside battle, making explicit the conflict compressed into Judges’ sequence.
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