What Does 2 Chronicles 10:6 Mean?
And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, How do you counsel me to return an answer to this people?
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 king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?THE KEY
A reply is a word returned to the people, shaped first by counsel from those who stood before Solomon, whose name carries the root of wholeness.
THE MEANING
Your answer to others takes shape through the counsel you receive before speaking. The voices you consult carry the imprint of what they have stood before; here, Solomon’s name carries the root of shalom, wholeness. The verse holds open the moment between hearing people and returning a word to them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a worthy answer must come from you alone and at once; here, the reply begins in counsel.
THE ROOT
לְהָשִׁיב
lehashiv
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
sh-w-b
to turn, return, or bring back
“return an answer” in this verse is lehashiv. English lets “answer” sound like a fresh utterance; the Hebrew verb says “return.” The word moves back toward the people after being shaped through counsel, so the reply belongs to a relationship, not only to the speaker’s moment of decision.
ALSO GROWS
lashuv: to return, to turn back
לָשׁוּב
This form makes the return movement explicit in “return answer.”
yeshovev: he restores, brings back
יְשׁוֹבֵב
Psalm 23:3 uses this form for restoring the living soul; the same root can describe both a word returned and a life brought back.
וַיִּוָּעַץ
vayyiwwaʿets
GROWS FROM
יָעַץ
y-ʿ-ts
to advise, counsel, or deliberate
“took counsel” in this verse is vayyiwwaʿets. The verb for consulting and the words for advice and adviser share one seed. Counsel here arrives through seasoned voices sought before a word is returned to the people.
ALSO GROWS
ʿetsah: counsel, advice
עֵצָה
The noun names the guidance Rehoboam seeks before answering.
yōʿēts: adviser, counselor
יוֹעֵץ
This branch names the person who gives counsel, making the human voices part of the same root family.
שְׁלֹמֹה
Shelomoh
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
to be whole, complete, or sound
The elders are identified by the one they stood before: Solomon’s name is tied to the root of wholeness. Their counsel carries a lineage named for wholeness, not merely the weight of their years.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar branch makes the wholeness carried in Solomon’s name audible.
shalem: whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
This branch shows the root’s sense of completeness beneath the name.
THE PATTERN
A response to others takes shape through hearing and counsel before the word is returned.
Without counsel, plans are broken, but in a multitude of counselors they stand.The one who returns a word before he hears it, folly and shame are his.Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to swell.THE THREAD
He turns back my living soul; he leads me in the tracks of alignment for the sake of his nature.The Hebrew verb translated “return” here and “restoreth” in the psalm grow from שׁוּב, the same root of turning back and bringing back. The shared root opens Rehoboam’s intended reply as a return movement: a word shaped by counsel can be given back to the people.
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