What Does Nehemiah 10:5 Mean in the King James?

Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,

Nehemiah 10:5 · KJV

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 covenant becomes concrete through named people, and Obadiah’s name carries service inside belonging.

THE MEANING

The covenant is visible in particular people, not only in a collective promise. Obadiah’s name gathers service into belonging, making faithfulness something embodied and particular in the life of the reader now.

THE ROOT

עֹבַדְיָה

ʿŌḇaḏyāh

GROWS FROM

עבד

The root ⁨עבד⁩ (ʿābad) means serve or work; the name ⁨עֹבַדְיָה⁩ (ʿŌḇaḏyāh) means “servant of Yahweh.”

English lets Obadiah pass as a label, but the name carries the root of serving within it. The same seed grows into “servant” and “service,” joining belonging to a lived way of serving rather than separating identity from action.

ALSO GROWS

ʿāḇaḏ: To serve or work.

עָבַד

This verb uses the same root embedded in Obadiah’s name, linking the named person with the act of service.

ʿeḇeḏ: A servant.

עֶבֶד

This noun makes explicit the servant identity carried in Obadiah’s name.

ʿăḇōḏāh: Service or work.

עֲבֹדָה

This branch shows the root extending from the person who serves to the work itself.

THE PATTERN

Covenant and sacred work become concrete through individually named people and their service.

See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

Exodus 31:2 · KJVThe work is entrusted to a particular person, named aloud.

Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.

Ezra 8:20 · KJVThe passage connects service with people whose names are recorded.

Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:

Romans 16:3 · KJVNamed people appear as active participants in shared work.

THE THREAD

And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

Exodus 3:12 · KJV

Obadiah’s name carries the root ⁨עבד⁩ (ʿābad, “serve”), which also appears in Exodus 3:12 as “serve God.” The shared root joins a person’s named nature to a lived action: belonging and service are held together.

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