What Does Numbers 21:15 Mean in the King James?
And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.
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 verse locates a moving watercourse by what it leans against: even a path of flow is shaped by its point of support.
THE MEANING
The watercourse descends toward a dwelling and is described by the border it rests against. Its movement and its edge together make the place recognizable.
THE ROOT
וְנִשְׁעַן
wenish'an
GROWS FROM
שׁען
sh-ʿ-n
To lean on, rest against, or rely upon.
The Hebrew verb carries the sense of leaning or relying beneath the English phrase “lieth upon.” The same root names a staff that supports a person, so the verse pictures the landscape through what its course rests against.
ALSO GROWS
mish'enet: Staff; support
מִשְׁעֶנֶת
The staff is named for its supporting function, linking the landscape’s resting edge with something that bears a person’s weight.
yishsha'en: He will lean on or rely upon
יִשָּׁעֵן
This verb form appears in Isaiah’s phrase “stay upon his God,” showing the same root can describe trust resting on its support.
THE PATTERN
Leaning gives shape to a relation: a course meets a boundary, a person has a staff, and trust rests on God.
And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.THE THREAD
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.The Hebrew word for “staff” is מִשְׁעֶנֶת (mish’enet), from the same root as “lieth upon” in Numbers. One verse uses the root for a course resting against a border; the other names a staff by the support it gives.
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