What Does Numbers 13:7 Mean in the King James?

Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

Numbers 13:7 · 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

Igal’s name carries the root of reclaiming, so this plain roster quietly holds redemption inside the lineage it names.

THE MEANING

Belonging is named here through a tribe, a person, and a father. Beneath the plain list, the names carry the language of reward in Issachar, reclaiming in Igal, and increase in Joseph.

THE ROOT

יִגְאָל

Yig'al

GROWS FROM

גאל

g-ʾ-l

To reclaim or redeem, especially to recover what belongs within a family bond.

Igal’s name comes from the root for reclaiming. The same root appears in the word for a kinsman-redeemer, so the name holds recovery within this list of people and family ties.

ALSO GROWS

go'el: Kinsman-redeemer; one who reclaims for a relative.

גֹּאֵל

This is the same root as Igal’s name, making the connection between his name and the act of reclaiming explicit.

ge'ullah: Redemption or reclaiming.

גְּאֻלָּה

This noun shows the root’s wider movement from a person who reclaims to the act of restoration itself.

יִשָּׂשכָר

Yissakhar

GROWS FROM

שכר

ś-k-r

Hire, wages, or reward.

The root ⁨שכר⁩ carries the language of wages and reward. Genesis 30:18 links Leah’s naming of Issachar to the hire she says she has received, so the tribal name holds a story of reward beneath its place in this roster.

ALSO GROWS

sākār: Wages or reward.

שָׂכָר

This is the root’s direct sense and the meaning Genesis 30:18 draws into Issachar’s name.

sākîr: A hired worker.

שָׂכִיר

This branch makes the root’s connection to labor and its recompense visible.

יוֹסֵף

Yosef

GROWS FROM

יסף

y-s-f

To add or increase.

Joseph’s name carries the sense of adding. In this short lineage, the name of Igal’s father places the language of increase beside the names associated with reward and reclaiming.

ALSO GROWS

yāsaf: To add, increase, or continue.

יָסַף

This verb gives the root’s basic movement, which the name Joseph carries.

hôsîf: He added or increased.

הוֹסִיף

This form makes the action explicit: what is added grows beyond what was already present.

THE PATTERN

Scripture gives names the power to carry a story within a person’s identity.

And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

Genesis 30:18 · KJVIssachar’s name is linked directly to hire and reward, showing a story held inside a name.

And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.

Genesis 41:51 · KJVJoseph gives a name that holds the meaning he sees in his own changed circumstances.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1:21 · KJVThe name Yeshua (⁨יֵשׁוּעַ⁩, Yeshua: deliverance) is tied to the work its bearer does.

THE THREAD

And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

Ruth 4:14 · KJV

Igal (⁨יִגְאָל⁩, Yig’al: he reclaims) and go’el (⁨גֹּאֵל⁩, go’el: kinsman-redeemer) share the root ⁨גאל⁩, the language of reclaiming. Ruth makes that root’s family bond visible as a person who restores what belongs to kin.

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