What Does Leviticus 20:24 Mean in the King James?
But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.
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 verse binds abundance to possession of what it names as another people’s land.
THE MEANING
You are addressed through a stark pairing: an abundant place is given to you, and you are distinguished from other peoples. The place is still called theirs before it becomes yours, so provision and displacement remain bound together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that a gift can be understood apart from those who lose possession: the verse still calls the land “their land” as it promises it to you.
THE ROOT
הִבְדַּלְתִּי
hivdalti
GROWS FROM
בדל
b-d-l
To divide, separate, or distinguish.
English “separated” can sound like a static label, but בדל names the act of dividing or distinguishing; the same root marks light apart from darkness in Genesis 1:4. Here, the boundary is between you and other peoples, alongside an inheritance.
ALSO GROWS
vayavdel: And he divided or separated.
וַיַּבְדֵּל
This is the same root used when God divides light from darkness, revealing separation as an active boundary.
mavdil: One who separates or distinguishes.
מַבְדִּיל
This form makes the root’s action clear: the distinction in the verse is something enacted, not merely a label.
תִּירְשׁוּ
tirshu
GROWS FROM
ירש
y-r-sh
To inherit, take possession, or dispossess.
The clause says “inherit” with תִּירְשׁוּ, then repeats the same root in לָרֶשֶׁת, rendered “to possess.” English uses two words for one root: taking possession. That root can also mean dispossessing, holding acquisition and displacement within the same linguistic act.
ALSO GROWS
lareshet: To take possession or possess.
לָרֶשֶׁת
This repeats the root immediately in the same sentence, joining “inherit” and “possess” as one action.
morashah: Inheritance or possession.
מוֹרָשָׁה
This noun from the same root shows inheritance as property received, echoing the verse’s transfer of land.
THE PATTERN
Separation creates a boundary that makes distinct places and belonging visible.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:THE THREAD
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.The verb translated “separated” here comes from the same root as “divided” in Genesis 1:4. In both verses, the root names an active distinction: light from darkness there, one people from other peoples here.
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