What Does Numbers 31:42 Mean in the King James?
And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided from the men that warred,
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
“Half” and “divided” share one root: the portion is a whole made distinct by separation.
THE MEANING
A share is named by the boundary that distinguishes it from another: Israel’s portion is set apart from the portion of the men who fought. The division keeps each part connected to the whole even as it identifies who receives it.
THE ROOT
חָצָה
chatsah
GROWS FROM
חצה
To divide a whole into parts, separating one portion from another.
“divided” in this verse is chatsah. The Hebrew pairs the act of dividing with the resulting “half”: both words grow from the same root. English makes them sound like separate ideas, while the verse presents the portion as the result of a deliberate separation.
ALSO GROWS
machatsit: Half; a portion made by division.
מַחֲצִית
This is the word translated “half” in the verse, naming the share produced by the act of dividing.
chatsi: Half; one of two portions.
חֲצִי
This related form shows that a half is defined by its relation to the whole it came from.
THE PATTERN
A shared whole becomes distributable when its portions and recipients are distinguished.
And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.THE THREAD
And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:The same root, חצה (chatsah), appears in the command to divide the spoil into two parts. That verse names the two recipients, the fighters and the congregation, so the “half” here is one side of a defined whole.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us