What Does 1 Chronicles 22:11 Mean?
Now, my son, may the LORD be with you, and you will prosper, and build the house of the LORD your God, as he has said of you.
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
Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.THE KEY
Here, success is joined to the LORD’s presence and moves toward building a house from what has been spoken.
THE MEANING
You are accompanied as you advance: the LORD is with you. Success takes visible form in building the LORD’s house, in keeping with what has been spoken about you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the belief that prosperity is simply private gain: here, advancement is joined to building the LORD’s house.
THE ROOT
וְהִצְלַחְתָּ
wĕhiṣlaḥtā
GROWS FROM
צלח
to advance, make progress, or succeed
“prosper” in this verse is wĕhiṣlaḥtā. The Hebrew word carries the sense of moving forward successfully. Beside the command to build, prospering points toward a work taking shape, rather than success as a possession by itself.
ALSO GROWS
hiṣlîaḥ: cause to succeed, make prosper
הִצְלִיחַ
This form shows the root’s movement toward a successful outcome.
yaṣlîaḥ: he prospers, advances successfully
יַצְלִיחַ
The same root appears in Psalm 1:3, where a rooted tree bears fruit in its season.
וּבָנִיתָ
ūḇānîṯā
GROWS FROM
בנה
to build, establish
The verse places build beside my son: בְּנִי (bĕnî, my son) and וּבָנִיתָ (ūḇānîṯā, you will build) echo the same b-n sound family. That echo links the one addressed as son with the act of building and the continuation of a household.
ALSO GROWS
bānāh: he built
בָּנָה
This is the root verb behind the building entrusted to the one addressed.
bēn: son; descendant
בֵּן
The shared b-n sound places sonship alongside building, suggesting continuity that takes form in a house.
binyān: building, structure
בִּנְיָן
The root names both the act of building and, in this branch, the structure that results.
דִּבֶּר
dibber
GROWS FROM
דבר
to speak; in its noun family, a word or matter
“said” in this verse is dibber. The house is built in keeping with what has already been spoken concerning you. The Hebrew word family links speaking with a matter or thing, so speech and the work that follows are held together.
ALSO GROWS
dābār: word, matter, thing
דָּבָר
The noun connects what is spoken with the matter that takes shape in the building.
dibbēr: he spoke
דִּבֵּר
This is the speaking verb used in the verse, framing the building as a response to words already spoken.
THE PATTERN
A dwelling takes shape when the human act of building is joined to God’s presence and word.
And let them make me a set-apart place, that I may pitch my tent among them.A Song of degrees for Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders toil in emptiness. Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in emptiness.Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock.THE THREAD
And he becomes like a tree planted by the channels of the waters, that gives its fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; whatever he does, he breaks through.The Hebrew word for prosper here, וְהִצְלַחְתָּ (wĕhiṣlaḥtā, you advance successfully), shares the root צלח (ṣ-l-ḥ, advance or prosper) with יַצְלִיחַ (yaṣlîaḥ, he prospers) in this psalm. The psalm pictures that prosperity as rooted growth bearing fruit in its season.
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