What Does Leviticus 7:28 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
The Hebrew root behind “spake” also names a word or matter, so the LORD’s speech carries the substance of what it addresses.
THE MEANING
The LORD speaks to Moses by name, and the saying takes shape in the words that follow. That pattern speaks to you now: instruction is living substance addressed to what is before you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a spoken word is only sound: here, speech shares its Hebrew root with “matter.”
THE ROOT
וַיְדַבֵּר
vayedabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
D-B-R
To speak or utter; the related noun names a word, matter, or thing.
“spake” in this verse is vayedabber. The same consonants name both the act of speaking and the matter spoken. English separates those ideas, while Hebrew lets the speech and its substance share a seed.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: Word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
This branch shows that the LORD’s speech is bound to the matter it addresses, not merely a sound passing by.
dibbēr: He spoke or declared
דִּבֶּר
This verbal form makes the act of speaking visible alongside the root’s noun for the substance of speech.
לֵאמֹר
lē’mōr
GROWS FROM
אמר
ʾ-M-R
To say, speak, or utter.
This second speech verb introduces the words that follow. Together, the two roots hold both the act of speaking and the unfolding saying in view.
ALSO GROWS
ʾimrāh: Utterance, saying, or word
אִמְרָה
This noun gives the spoken content a form that can be heard and received.
ʾōmēr: One who says or speaks
אֹמֵר
This form keeps the speaker present within the act of saying.
THE PATTERN
When God speaks, the word carries substance that reaches a hearer and brings what is hidden into form.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.THE THREAD
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.Leviticus uses the D-B-R root for the LORD’s speaking; Genesis uses its noun for the arriving “word.” In both, speech reaches a hearer as a substantive address, and Genesis makes that address personal: “Fear not.”
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