What Does Nehemiah 10:28 Mean in the King James?
And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding;
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
This separation has a direction: the people are distinguished by turning toward God’s instruction, together with the knowledge and understanding to receive it.
THE MEANING
The passage places you among a people whose distinction comes from turning toward God’s instruction, gathering leaders, workers, families, and the rest of the people in the same frame. Knowledge and understanding belong to the whole assembly named here, not only to its formal religious roles.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The text undoes the assumption that knowledge of God’s instruction belongs only to religious officials: it closes by naming every person as knowing and understanding.
THE ROOT
נִבְדָּל
nibdal
GROWS FROM
בדל
badal
To divide, separate, or distinguish.
“Separated” can sound like withdrawal as an end in itself, but the sentence gives this separation a direction: the people turn toward God’s instruction. This root names a distinction, and here that distinction gathers a community marked by knowledge and understanding.
ALSO GROWS
badal: To separate or divide.
בָּדַל
This basic form shares the root of “separated,” showing that the verse’s distinction is built into the word itself.
hibdil: To distinguish or set apart.
הִבְדִּיל
This form shows how separation can make a distinction clear, illuminating the passage’s movement toward a shared commitment.
יֹדֵעַ
yodea
GROWS FROM
ידע
yada
To know or perceive through encounter.
The word for knowledge comes from a verb that carries knowing, not merely collecting information. Beside “understanding,” it presents the community’s bond as something recognized and grasped, not just a list of names.
ALSO GROWS
yada: To know or perceive.
יָדַע
This verb is the seed of the verse’s word for “knowledge,” with the sense of knowing through encounter.
yedi'ah: Knowledge or knowing.
יְדִיעָה
This noun from the same root keeps “knowledge” connected to the act of knowing named in the verse.
מֵבִין
mevin
GROWS FROM
בין
bin
To discern or distinguish between things.
The root behind “understanding” also gives words for discernment and insight. The verse does not portray separation as blind withdrawal: it names a community able to discern and comprehend the instruction it turns toward.
ALSO GROWS
binah: Understanding or discernment.
בִּינָה
This noun shares the root of “understanding” and makes its connection to discernment visible.
tevunah: Discernment or insight.
תְּבוּנָה
This related form shows that the verse’s understanding carries the sense of discerning what is before the community.
THE PATTERN
A distinct people takes shape when divine instruction forms both their allegiance and their capacity to discern.
And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.THE THREAD
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.The Hebrew verb translated “divided” comes from the same root, בדל (badal), as “separated” in this verse. In Genesis, the distinction makes light and darkness visible; here, distinction is directed toward God’s instruction.
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