KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT
To get what Exodus 31:17 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity.
“It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
What does this verse really mean? Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Use this reference information to gain deeper insight into the Bible and enrich your understanding. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1].
| KJV Verse | Original Hebrew | Meaning/ Definition This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. | More Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. |
|---|---|---|---|
| “It” | הִ֖וא | He (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are | It |
| “is” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “a sign” | א֥וֹת | A signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc | sign |
| “between” | בֵּינִ֗י | Between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles); also as a conjunction, either...or | between |
| “me and the children” | בְּנֵ֣י | A son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.) | children |
| “of Israel” | יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | He will rule as God; Jisraël, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity | Israel |
| “for ever:” | לְעֹלָ֑ם | Properly, concealed, i.e., the vanishing point; generally, time out of mind (past or future), i.e., (practically) eternity; frequentatively, adverbial (especially with prepositional prefix) always | ever |
| “for” | כִּי | (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed | for |
| “in” | (No Hebrew definition. English implied.) | ||
| “six” | שֵׁ֣שֶׁת | Six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand); as ordinal, sixth | six |
| “days” | יָמִ֗ים | A day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb) | days |
| “the Lord” | יְהוָה֙ | (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God | Lord |
| “made” | עָשָׂ֤ה | To do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application | made |
| “heaven” | הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם | The sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve) | heaven |
| “and earth,” | הָאָ֔רֶץ | The earth (at large, or partitively a land) | earth |
| “and on the seventh” | הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י | Seventh | seventh |
| “day” | וּבַיּוֹם֙ | A day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb) | day |
| “he rested,” | שָׁבַ֖ת | To repose, i.e., desist from exertion; used in many implied relations (causative, figurative or specific) | rested |
| “and was refreshed.” | וַיִּנָּפַֽשׁ׃ | To breathe; passively, to be breathed upon , i.e., (figuratively) refreshed (as if by a current of air) | refreshed |
See Exodus 31:17 with its adjacent verses in bold below. Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance.
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15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.