What Does Judges 3:6 Mean in the King James?
And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
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 verb rendered “served” also means “worked”: devotion to these gods reaches beyond ritual into a life put in their service.
THE MEANING
The verse places relationship and allegiance side by side: daughters and sons are joined across households, and the next clause says they serve their gods. The verb reaches beyond ritual into work and service, showing the direction of everyday life. It speaks now about how the bonds a life forms can shape what that life serves.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a close bond cannot affect what you serve.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעַבְדוּ
vayyaʿavdu
GROWS FROM
עבד
To work, labor, or serve.
The same root names both labor and service, including service directed toward a deity. The verse lets “served their gods” carry the sense of a life’s work and allegiance, not only a ritual act.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāvad: To work or serve.
עָבַד
The verb in this verse comes from this root, joining service to the work of a life.
ʿeved: A servant or worker.
עֶבֶד
This branch shows the relationship implied by service: the one who serves belongs to the service of a master.
ʿavodah: Work, service, or worshipful service.
עֲבוֹדָה
It keeps labor and religious service in the same root-family, illuminating the verse’s movement from household ties to serving gods.
THE PATTERN
The bonds a person forms can redirect the allegiance expressed in whom they serve.
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.THE THREAD
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.Joshua uses the same עבד root for serving the LORD and serving other gods, setting the direction of service plainly before the reader. Its mention of a house serving together opens the household connection in Judges further.
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