What Does Judges 6:25 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:
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
“Baal” means “master,” so this is not a neutral family monument but a rival claim to mastery standing inside the household.
THE MEANING
The verse places the reader before an inherited allegiance that still claims sacred space: what is passed down can still stand as a rival authority. Here the household altar and its attached Asherah are ordered removed, making clear that family inheritance does not make a claim on devotion untouchable.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that what a family hands down must remain sacred dissolves here: the father’s altar is named as something to tear down.
THE ROOT
הַבַּעַל
habbaʿal
GROWS FROM
בעל
b-ʿ-l
To own or be master; also, husband.
“Baal” in this verse is habbaʿal. בעל (baʿal, “master” or “owner”) is both the word behind this name and a common title for a husband or owner. The root makes the command precise: the father’s property is also a site where another master is represented, and its altar is not treated as neutral inheritance.
ALSO GROWS
baʿal: Master, owner, or husband.
בַּעַל
The divine name uses this ordinary title; the rival deity is named as a master.
beʿalim: Masters or owners; also the plural name Baalim.
בְּעָלִים
The plural form carries the same title, making Baal legible as a claim of mastery rather than a sound without meaning.
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbēaḥ
GROWS FROM
זבח
z-b-ḥ
To slaughter or sacrifice.
The verse names a household shrine by the act of sacrifice at its center. English “altar” can sound like a static object; the root keeps the offering, and therefore the allegiance being enacted, inside the word.
ALSO GROWS
zābaḥ: To slaughter as a sacrifice.
זָבַח
This verb gives the altar its root: the structure is defined by the offering enacted on it.
zevaḥ: Sacrifice; sacrificial meal.
זֶבַח
The noun carries the same root and shows that an offering can culminate in a meal shared at the altar.
תִּכְרֹת
tikhrōt
GROWS FROM
כרת
k-r-t
To cut, sever, or cut off.
“cut down” in this verse is tikhrōt. The verb means a real cut here; it also appears in the idiom כָּרַת בְּרִית (karat berit, “cut a covenant”). That shared root gives severing a decisive boundary-force, while this verse specifically directs it against the Asherah.
ALSO GROWS
karat: To cut, sever, or cut off.
כָּרַת
The same root makes the command physical and decisive: the Asherah is to be severed from the place.
keritut: Severance; divorce or dismissal.
כְּרִיתוּת
This noun carries the root into the ending of a bond, widening the sense of separation while the verse’s cut remains literal.
THE PATTERN
Rival allegiance is exposed when its physical supports are removed, clearing space for devotion to the living God.
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;THE THREAD
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:The verb translated “cut down” here is כרת (karat, “cut” or “sever”). Genesis uses that same verb in כָּרַת בְּרִית (karat berit, “cut a covenant”), rendered “made a covenant,” so English hides the shared root beneath dismantling an idol here and establishing covenant there.
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