What Does Numbers 22:3 Mean?
And Moab was greatly afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab recoiled because of the children of Israel.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.THE KEY
The Hebrew shifts from fear of Israel’s numbers to visceral recoil from the people themselves.
THE MEANING
A growing people’s presence can feel threatening, and apprehension can become aversion toward the people themselves. The verse names how fear can shift from what a group might do to the fact that the group is there.
THE ROOT
וַיָּקָץ
wayyaqats
GROWS FROM
קוץ
q-w-ṣ
To feel loathing or aversion; to become weary of something.
“recoiled” in this verse is wayyaqats. The verb translated “distressed” carries the sense of recoil or loathing. The sentence moves from fear about Israel’s numbers to aversion directed at the Israelites themselves.
ALSO GROWS
wayyaqutsu: They were grieved or distressed.
וַיָּקֻצוּ
Exodus uses this same root for a people’s recoil from the children of Israel, closely echoing this verse.
qats-ti: I am weary of.
קַצְתִּי
Rebekah uses this form for her weariness with life, showing that the root can describe a deep aversion, not just ordinary worry.
וַיָּגָר
wayyagar
GROWS FROM
גור
g-w-r
To fear or dread.
“sore afraid” in this verse is wayyagar. The verb gives Moab’s reaction as fear before the verse names its aversion. Together, the two verbs show apprehension sharpening into recoil.
ALSO GROWS
taguru: You shall be afraid.
תָגוּרוּ
Deuteronomy uses this form for fear of a person’s face, showing the root can name dread directed toward people.
tagur: You shall be afraid.
תָגוּר
This form also describes fear of a person, reinforcing the personal edge of Moab’s fear here.
יִשְׂרָאֵל
Yisra'el
GROWS FROM
שׂרה
ś-r-h
To strive or contend; the name joins this idea with אֵל (El), “God.”
The name Israel carries the idea of striving with God, as its naming scene explains. Moab’s recoil is aimed at a people whose name holds struggle within it, as well as at their growing number.
ALSO GROWS
śārîtā: You have striven.
שָׂרִיתָ
This is the verb in the scene that explains the name Israel.
wayyāśar: He contended.
וַיָּשַׂר
Hosea uses this related form when recalling Jacob’s struggle, echoing the name’s root sense.
THE PATTERN
A growing people’s presence can be experienced as a threat, turning fear into aversion toward the people themselves.
But the more they bent them low, the more they multiplied and burst forth. And they recoiled from the face of the children of Israel.If we let him go on like this, all will lean their weight into him, and the Romans will come and lift away both our place and our nation.THE THREAD
But the more they bent them low, the more they multiplied and burst forth. And they recoiled from the face of the children of Israel.Exodus 1:12 uses the same verb קוץ and almost the same phrase, “because of the children of Israel.” It places that recoil beside Israel’s multiplying, making the distress in Numbers part of a recurring response to their growing presence.
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