What Does 2 Chronicles 11:6 Mean?

He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

2 Chronicles 11:6 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

He built even Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

THE KEY

The same Hebrew verb names the building of a town here and the forming of a woman in Genesis, so “built” reaches beyond walls.

THE MEANING

What is built takes a lasting form. Bethlehem (⁨בֵּית לֶחֶם⁩, Bet Lechem, “house of bread”) carries nourishment in its name, bringing building and provision together in this line.

THE ROOT

וַיִּבֶן

vayiven

GROWS FROM

בנה

⁨בנה⁩ (banah) means to build or establish.

“built” in this verse is vayiven. The same root ⁨בנה⁩ (banah, “to build”) appears in Genesis 2:22, where the KJV says God “made” the woman. Hebrew uses the language of building for both a town and a person.

ALSO GROWS

banah: to build, construct

בָּנָה

This is the verb behind “built” in the verse.

boneh: builder; one who builds

בּוֹנֶה

It names the one carrying out the same building action.

mivneh: structure, building

מִבְנֶה

The action takes lasting form, as it does in the towns named here.

THE PATTERN

Building gives lasting form to what can shelter and sustain life.

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from Adam, he built into a woman, and brought her to Adam.

Genesis 2:22 · SDVThe Hebrew uses ⁨בנה⁩ (banah, “build”) where the KJV says “made,” applying the language of building to the forming of a person.

Wisdom builds her house; she hews out her seven pillars.

Proverbs 9:1 · SDVWisdom takes shape as a house with pillars, giving insight a stable dwelling.

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.

Matthew 7:24 · SDVThe house built on rock gives a durable form to a life shaped by these sayings.

THE THREAD

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from Adam, he built into a woman, and brought her to Adam.

Genesis 2:22 · SDV

Both verses use ⁨וַיִּבֶן⁩ (vayiven, “built”) from the root ⁨בנה⁩ (banah, “to build”). The KJV renders it “made” in Genesis, revealing the shared language of building for a person and a town.

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