What Does Leviticus 22:1 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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
Before the message is even heard, the Hebrew root behind “spake” makes speech tangible: it also names a matter or thing.
THE MEANING
You meet this verse at the instant a voice reaches the person it addresses. The message is just beginning to emerge; “saying” leaves its content open while the act of address is already present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The idea that a word from God is only information, detached from lived matter, gives way here: the Hebrew word-family behind “spake” also names a matter or thing.
THE ROOT
וַיְדַבֵּר
vayedabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; the related noun דָּבָר (davar) means word, matter, or thing.
The Hebrew word behind “spake” belongs to the same root-family as “matter” and “thing.” Speech here carries substance: the voice reaches Moses with something real beginning to take shape.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word; matter; thing
דָּבָר
The shared root holds the act of speaking together with what is spoken about.
dibbur: Speech; utterance
דִּבּוּר
This noun keeps the audible act of speaking within the same word-family as the matter it conveys.
מֹשֶׁה
Moshe
GROWS FROM
משׁה
Draw out; the verse links the name Moses with being drawn out.
The name carries emergence within it: Moses is the one drawn out. Even before the message appears, the verse names its hearer through an image of being brought forth.
ALSO GROWS
mashah: To draw out
מָשָׁה
This is the verb linked to Moses’ name in Exodus, giving the name its nature.
Moshe: Moses; interpreted in Exodus as “drawn out”
מֹשֶׁה
The name keeps the action of drawing out present in the person addressed.
THE PATTERN
Divine speech carries substance: it brings realities forth, holds them together, and reaches a hearer.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;THE THREAD
With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?The same Hebrew root דבר (d-b-r), “speak,” stands behind “spake” here and “speak” in Numbers 12:8. That verse opens this brief announcement into speech described as mouth to mouth and without riddles.
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