What Does Judges 3:17 Mean in the King James?
And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat 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
Eglon’s name is built on the Hebrew word for “calf,” and the verse makes that animal image visible by describing him as very fat.
THE MEANING
Power appears here as a body: tribute stands before a ruler whose name and extraordinary fullness make him impossible to keep abstract. The verse holds office, gift, and flesh together in one scene.
THE ROOT
עֶגְלוֹן
ʿEglon
GROWS FROM
עגל
ʿ-g-l
Calf or young bovine.
Eglon’s name is formed from the root for “calf.” Beside the description of his fullness, the name and body echo each other, making his physical presence part of how the verse depicts power.
ALSO GROWS
ʿegel: Calf.
עֵגֶל
This is the root word carried in Eglon’s name.
ʿeglah: Heifer.
עֶגְלָה
This related word keeps the root’s animal image present beside the ruler’s name.
בָּרִיא
bāri
GROWS FROM
ברא
bara
The related verb means “create” or “bring into being”; this adjective means robust, healthy, or fat.
The Hebrew word carries a shade of robustness and health as well as bodily size, giving “fat” a sense of conspicuous fullness. The same word family describes well-fed cattle, so the image connects the ruler’s body with visible abundance.
ALSO GROWS
bārāʾ: Create or bring into being.
בָּרָא
This related verb gives the word family a sense of something formed or brought forth.
bəri’ot: Robust or fat; used of the cows in Genesis 41.
בְּרִיאוֹת
This related form shows the same fullness applied to healthy-looking animals.
THE PATTERN
Scripture gives abundance a visible body, making fullness part of how prosperity and power appear.
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:THE THREAD
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.The Hebrew word בָּרִיא (bāri), used of Eglon’s fullness, belongs to the same word family as the description of the well-fed cows in Pharaoh’s dream. In both verses, fullness becomes something the eye can see.
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