What Does 2 Chronicles 13:21 Mean?
But Abijah grew mighty, took fourteen wives, and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
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
But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.THE KEY
The Hebrew for “waxed mighty” is reflexive, Abijah strengthens himself, and the verse measures that strength by the scale of the household and descendants that follow.
THE MEANING
Strength here becomes visible in an enlarged household and a line of descendants: Abijah strengthens himself, takes fourteen wives, and fathers thirty-eight children. The verse places his growing might beside what he brings forth, while leaving his motive unstated.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתְחַזֵּק
wayyitchazzeq
GROWS FROM
חזק
To be strong, strengthen, or hold firm.
“grew mighty” in this verse is wayyitchazzeq. וַיִּתְחַזֵּק (wayyitchazzeq, “he strengthened himself”) is a reflexive form of חזק (chazaq, “be strong”), describing Abijah as gathering strength rather than simply possessing a fixed quality. The same root can mean to strengthen or make firm, and here that force takes visible form in a household and a continuing line of descendants.
ALSO GROWS
chizzeq: Make strong or firm.
חִזֵּק
This form shows that the root’s strength can be imparted, while Abijah’s form describes strength gathered in himself.
chizqu: A plural command to be strong or firm.
חִזְקוּ
The shared root links Abijah’s self-strengthening with strength as a state that can be called forth in others.
וַיּוֹלֶד
wayyoled
GROWS FROM
ילד
To bear, give birth, or beget.
“fathered” in this verse is wayyoled. וַיּוֹלֶד (wayyoled, “he begat”) comes from ילד (yalad, “bear or bring forth”), a root that reaches beyond the act of fathering into the idea of generations. The verse’s count therefore marks not only what Abijah brings forth, but a line that continues beyond him.
ALSO GROWS
yeled: A child or young one.
יֶלֶד
The children named in the verse are the direct continuation of the bringing-forth expressed by this root.
toledot: Generations, lineage, or what comes forth.
תּוֹלְדוֹת
This branch opens the root from individual births into the continuing line they form.
THE PATTERN
Strength is a living capacity that grows and carries life forward.
Both riches and weight come from your face, and you reign over all; and in your hand is strength and might, and in your hand it is to make great, and to strengthen all.Look, children are the LORD's portion; and the fruit of the womb is a wage.And the child grew, and grew strong in breath, being filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.THE THREAD
Hold fast and be firm. Do not fear, and do not quake before them. For the LORD your God is the one who walks with you. He will not release you, nor leave you.“Waxed mighty” and “Be strong” share חזק (chazaq, “be strong or firm”). In Abijah’s verse the root describes him strengthening himself; here it names a strength grounded in the assurance of God’s presence.
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