What Does 2 Chronicles 1:7 Mean?
In that night God was seen by Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I shall give 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
In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.THE KEY
The gift begins as a question: before anything is placed in your hands, you are invited to name it.
THE MEANING
God’s presence meets you with an open question: what do you ask to receive? The verse leaves the gift unnamed until you answer, making your request part of the exchange.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that divine generosity leaves you no voice in what you need is undone here: the invitation is to ask.
THE ROOT
אֶתֵּן
ʾetten
GROWS FROM
נתן
Give, put, set, or place.
The verb translated “give” can also mean to put or place. The same root appears in Solomon’s reply in verse 10, so the exchange is also about what will be placed in his care.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, put, or set
נָתַן
This root holds both giving and placing, deepening what God’s question means by “give.”
mattanah: Gift or present
מַתָּנָה
The noun for a gift grows from the same root: what is given is what gets placed into someone’s hands.
שְׁאַל
she’al
GROWS FROM
שאל
Ask, inquire, or request; in some forms, borrow.
“Ask” in this verse is she’al. The question gives Solomon room to specify what he seeks. A related form names something as “asked-for,” so the request and the thing requested belong to the same word-family.
ALSO GROWS
she’elah: Request or question
שְׁאֵלָה
The noun makes explicit that asking here is a formed request, not merely speaking.
sha’ul: Asked-for
שָׁאוּל
This related form shows how the root can name what is sought in the act of asking.
THE PATTERN
The invitation to ask is paired with an act of giving, making the request part of how the gift is received.
Ask of me, and I give you the nations for your inheritance, and the far edges of the earth as what your hands grasp.Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.But if any of you is left behind in wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without doubling and without taunting, and it will be given him.THE THREAD
Give me now wisdom and knowing, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this great people of yours?The same root נתן (natan, give or place) appears in God’s question and Solomon’s reply. The open invitation becomes a specific request for wisdom and knowledge to serve the people.
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