What Does 1 Chronicles 29:25 Mean?
And the LORD made Solomon exceedingly great in the eyes of all Israel, and set upon him such royal majesty as had not been upon any king before him in 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 the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.THE KEY
The LORD first makes Solomon great in Israel’s sight, then places royal majesty upon him: his stature is received, not self-made.
THE MEANING
As you read now, Solomon’s stature becomes a picture of greatness received: the LORD makes him great in the sight of Israel and gives him splendor beyond every earlier king there. His distinction has a source outside himself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that visible greatness must be self-made: Solomon’s enlargement and royal majesty both come from the LORD.
THE ROOT
וַיְגַדֵּל
waygaddēl
GROWS FROM
גדל
To grow or become great; in this form, to make great.
“made great” in this verse is waygaddēl. The root holds making great together with growth. One of its branches is מִגְדָּל (migdal), a tower: what grows great becomes visible, matching the verse’s emphasis on Solomon’s stature before all Israel.
ALSO GROWS
gadol: Great, large
גָּדוֹל
The same root names the greatness the LORD brings about in Solomon.
gedullah: Greatness, majesty
גְּדֻלָּה
This noun makes explicit the quality the verse says the LORD gives Solomon.
migdal: Tower
מִגְדָּל
A tower makes height visible, echoing Solomon’s greatness in the sight of all Israel.
וַיִּתֵּן
wayyittēn
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place.
“set” in this verse is wayyittēn. The verse describes royal majesty as something the LORD gives and places upon Solomon. The root’s sense of placing makes the image concrete: this splendor rests on him as a gift, rather than arising from him alone.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place
נָתַן
This is the root verb behind the LORD’s act of bestowing majesty.
mattanah: Gift
מַתָּנָה
The related word makes clear the gift-like character of what is placed upon Solomon.
THE PATTERN
Stature and authority are raised or set in place by God, rather than secured by human rank alone.
The LORD strips, and makes rich; he lays low, and lifts high.For God is the judge. This one he brings low, and this one he lifts.Let every living soul place itself under the authorities that hold above. For there is no authority except under God, and the ones that are have been arranged under God.THE THREAD
And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he had spoken to him, and there was wholeness between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them cut a covenant.The LORD’s “gave” here and “bestowed” in Chronicles come from the same Hebrew root, נתן (natan), meaning give, set, or place. One verse names wisdom and the other royal majesty as things Solomon receives from the LORD.
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