“ranges” in the KJV Bible

This word appears in the King James Version and has 2 different meanings, coming from 2 different Hebrew words. The word “ranges” does not appear in the New King James Version or NASB.

  1. Hebrew: כִּיר —transliteration: kir

    “And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean and shall be unclean unto you.” —Leviticus 11:35 KJV

    New King James Version: “…cooking stove…”

    This word probably refers to a cooking stove for two or more pots, as the Hebrew word here is in the dual number; or perhaps a fire-place fitted to receive a pair of ovens.

    Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance describes it as “a cooking range (consisting of two parallel stones, across which the boiler is set).”

  2. Hebrew: שְׂדֵרָה —transliteration: sederah —meaning: ranks of soldiers

    “And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in.” —2 Kings 11:8 KJV

    The Levites were appointed to guard the king within the temple (2 Chronicles 23:7), while the soldiers were his guard in the court, and in going from the temple to the palace. The soldiers are here commanded to slay any one who should break through the “ranks” (as rendered in the Revised King James Version) to come near the king.

    In 2 Kings 11:15 KJV the expression, “Have her forth without the ranges,” is in the Revised King James Version, “Have her forth between the ranks;” i.e., the high priest Jehoiada orders that wicked Queen Athaliah should be kept surrounded by his own guards, and at the same time conveyed beyond the precincts of the temple.

    The New King James version translates this verse as,

    And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the army, and said to them,

    “Take her outside under guard [literally: between the ranks], and slay with the sword whoever follows her.”

    For the priest had said,

    “Do not let her be killed in the house of the Lord.”

Article Version: September 23, 2019