What Does Leviticus 18:1 Mean in the King James?

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Leviticus 18:1 · KJV

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 voice addresses the one whose name is tied to being drawn out, placing his own story of emergence at the threshold of what follows.

THE MEANING

The word reaches a particular person by name; it is not an idea floating free, but speech entering a life and opening what comes next. Moses’ name carries the image of being drawn out, so the address meets someone already marked by emergence.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the assumption that divine speech is only an abstract rule: here, it comes to a person by name.

THE ROOT

מֹשֶׁה

Mosheh

GROWS FROM

משׁה

m-sh-h

To draw out, especially from water.

“Moses” in this verse is Mosheh. The name Mosheh is linked in the text to mashah, “to draw out.” The person being addressed carries a name that recalls being drawn from the water, so his name holds a story of emergence before the speech continues.

ALSO GROWS

meshithihu: I drew him out.

מְשִׁיתִהוּ

In Exodus 2:10, this is the phrase connected to Moses’ name; it gives the name its image of being drawn from water.

yimsheni: He drew me out.

יִמְשֵׁנִי

In Psalm 18:16, the same root describes being drawn from many waters, echoing the image carried in Moses’ name.

וַיְדַבֵּר

vayedabber

GROWS FROM

דבר

d-b-r

To speak; the related noun davar can mean word, matter, or thing.

“spake” in this verse is vayedabber. The root holds speaking and the matter spoken within one word-family. The LORD’s speech is presented as something with substance: a word that bears what is to follow.

ALSO GROWS

davar: Word, matter, or thing.

דָּבָר

This branch shows how Hebrew can hold utterance and its subject together; the speech here opens the matter that follows.

dover: One who speaks; speaking.

דֹבֵר

This form names the speaker through the same root, keeping the act of speaking connected to the voice that addresses Moses.

THE PATTERN

Divine speech enters a life through direct address, and the address opens what follows.

And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

Exodus 3:4 · KJVThe voice calls Moses by name, and the direct address begins the encounter.

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Jeremiah 1:4 · KJVThe word comes to a particular person and begins with speech that will continue.

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Acts 9:4 · KJVThe voice addresses Saul by name, making the speech personal and opening a change in what follows.

THE THREAD

And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

Exodus 2:10 · KJV

Leviticus names Moses as the one addressed; Exodus connects that name to mashah, “to draw out.” The speech reaches someone whose name carries the image of being drawn from water, a story of emergence already held in the name.

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