What Does Matthew 2:22 Mean in the King James?
But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
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 warning can preserve movement by changing the route without making the danger disappear.
THE MEANING
Fear can register a real threat without becoming the only information available to you now. A warning arrives within the fear and changes the route; departure keeps movement possible without pretending the danger has vanished.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that fear leaves only two options, to push straight ahead or freeze, is undone here: guidance opens another movement by changing direction.
THE ROOT
ἀνεχώρησεν
anechōrēsen
GROWS FROM
χωρ-
chōr-
To go or move; the related verb can also mean to make room or have room.
“turned aside” in this verse is anechōrēsen. The Greek verb ἀναχωρέω (anachōreō, to withdraw or depart) makes this more than a small sidestep: the warning becomes a real change of location. Its base χωρέω (chōreō, to go or make room) brings movement and space close together, the way away from danger leaves room for the journey to continue.
ALSO GROWS
chōreō: To go or move; also to make room or have room.
χωρέω
This base word holds movement and space together, illuminating how a changed direction can open room to continue.
anachōreō: To withdraw, retreat, or depart.
ἀναχωρέω
This is the verb translated “turned aside”; it shows the warning taking shape as an actual departure.
THE PATTERN
A warning becomes meaningful as a changed route, redirecting movement around danger.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.THE THREAD
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.The same verb, ἀναχωρέω (anachōreō, to withdraw or depart), marks the wise men’s movement after their dream warning. In both verses, the warning becomes visible in a changed route.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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