What Does 1 Chronicles 28:8 Mean?
Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the ears of our God, guard and seek all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may take hold of this good land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you for the ages.
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 therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.THE KEY
The inheritance moves in two directions at once: you receive the good, then cause it to be inherited by those who follow.
THE MEANING
Your keeping and seeking of God’s instruction unfolds in the sight of others and in God’s presence. The good you inhabit is bound to what you carry forward to those after you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This dissolves the idea that what you receive belongs only to you: the verse puts those who come after you inside its purpose.
THE ROOT
נַחֲלָה
nachalah
GROWS FROM
נחל
To inherit, take possession, or cause another to inherit.
The word for inheritance grows from a root that can name both receiving a share and causing someone else to inherit. The good land is held across both directions at once: what you receive and what you place into the hands of those after you.
ALSO GROWS
nachal: To inherit or take possession as an heir.
נָחַל
This verb shows inheritance as something received and entered into.
hinchil: To give as an inheritance; to cause another to inherit.
הִנְחִיל
This form brings the passing-on in the verse into the root itself.
שִׁמְרוּ
shimru
GROWS FROM
שמר
To guard, watch over, or preserve.
“guard” in this verse is shimru. The same root names guarding, watching, and preserving, so “keep” carries the posture of attentive custody. What the verse says is held close as a charge, not merely stored as information.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: A keeper, guard, or watcher.
שֹׁמֵר
The root names the person who watches over something, making keeping a form of care and vigilance.
mishmeret: A charge, guard duty, or watch.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch shows that what is kept can be an entrusted responsibility.
וְדִרְשׁוּ
vedirshu
GROWS FROM
דרש
To seek, inquire, ask after, or require.
English “seek” can sound like a momentary search, but דָּרַשׁ (darash), meaning to seek or inquire, carries the active work of asking after something. Joined to “keep,” it makes fidelity both watchful and continually searching, not passive possession.
ALSO GROWS
doresh: One who seeks or inquires.
דּוֹרֵשׁ
The word keeps the seeking active: it describes a person engaged in asking after something.
midrash: Inquiry or exposition.
מִדְרָשׁ
This branch shows how seeking can become sustained inquiry into meaning.
THE PATTERN
What is entrusted by God stays alive as it is guarded and passed to those who come after.
So that you might stand in awe of the LORD your God, to guard all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life, and so that your days may be lengthened.That they might set their loins upon God, and not forget the works of God, but guard his commands.And these things you heard from me among many witnesses, place beside steady people who will be able to teach others also.THE THREAD
You command us to guard your appointments with full force.The word “keep” comes from שָׁמַר (shamar), meaning to guard or watch over, as it does in this verse. Psalm 119 makes that keeping’s attentive quality visible: what is good remains available when it is held with care.
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