What Does Numbers 10:32 Mean in the King James?

And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.

Numbers 10:32 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The Hebrew ties “goodness” to what the LORD does and what the people do next: goodness moves through them to you.

THE MEANING

When you walk with people, the good the LORD does among them becomes good they do for you. The verse holds divine goodness and human reciprocity in one movement: what reaches a community can pass onward to the person walking with it.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The good the LORD does for others is beyond your reach; the verse pictures it reaching you through those who walk alongside you.

THE ROOT

טוֹב

tov

GROWS FROM

יטב

y-t-b

To be good, be beneficial, or do well.

“goodness / do good” in this verse is tov. English gives “goodness” as a thing, then describes actions done in response. Hebrew repeats the y-t-b root: the good the LORD does among the people becomes the good they do for you. Goodness passes through the community instead of stopping with it.

ALSO GROWS

tov: Good; goodness.

טוֹב

This is the “goodness” the LORD brings among the people.

yeitiv: He will do good; he will benefit.

יֵיטִיב

This form names what the LORD does among them.

veheitavnu: And we will do good; and we will benefit.

וְהֵיטַבְנוּ

The same root returns in the people’s promise to do good for you.

THE PATTERN

Good received from God is carried outward through people and shared with others.

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

Genesis 12:2 · KJVWhat God gives to one person becomes a blessing that reaches others.

The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

Proverbs 11:25 · KJVGood extended to another returns through the shared life of giver and receiver.

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Matthew 10:8 · KJVWhat is received freely becomes something freely given onward.

THE THREAD

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalm 34:8 · KJV

Psalm 34:8 uses the same Hebrew word, ⁨טוֹב⁩ (tov), “good,” that opens this verse’s repeated root. Numbers shows that goodness tasted in the LORD taking shape in what people do for one another.

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