What Does Judges 9:46 Mean in the King James?
And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.
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
A refuge can bear the name of covenant and still leave its power to protect unanswered.
THE MEANING
When danger reaches you, the pull toward shelter feels immediate. Here, the men hear the report and enter the hold inside the house of El-Berith, the god of covenant. The verse places that name beside their need for protection and leaves the refuge’s strength in question.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A place called the house of covenant is necessarily a safe refuge.
THE ROOT
שָׁמְעוּ
shamʿu
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen, heed.
“heard” in this verse is shamʿu. The report reaches them, and their hearing immediately becomes movement toward shelter. This root can hold listening that answers; the verse shows their response without declaring it wise or safe.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; listen, with response implied by context.
שְׁמַע
The root can join hearing to action, as the men hear and enter the hold.
shemuʿah: A report or tidings.
שְׁמוּעָה
The men respond to news that has reached them; the report sets the scene in motion.
מִגְדָּל
migdal
GROWS FROM
גדל
g-d-l
Grow, become great.
The Hebrew word for the tower shares a root with words for growing and greatness. The men associated with this rising structure enter another stronghold, piling height and enclosure together while the verse leaves their protection uncertain.
ALSO GROWS
gadal: Grow or become great.
גָּדַל
It gives the tower’s word a sense of something raised or grown in stature.
gadol: Great or large.
גָּדוֹל
The shared root links the tower’s imposing form with greatness, while the verse keeps its actual safety in question.
THE PATTERN
A refuge’s strength is revealed when danger reaches it, regardless of the name it bears.
And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.THE THREAD
The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.The same Hebrew word, מִגְדָּל (migdal), names the tower here and the strong tower in Proverbs. The shared image shifts the question from the height of a refuge to the nature behind its name: Proverbs locates safety in the LORD.
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