What Does 2 Chronicles 20:20 Mean?
They rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear and respond to me, O Judah, and you who settle in Jerusalem. Lean your full weight upon the LORD your God, and you will be made steady. Lean your full weight upon his prophets, and you will break through.
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 they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.THE KEY
The Hebrew uses one root for “believe” and “be established”: what you lean your weight on becomes your footing.
THE MEANING
The verse locates your footing in trust: reliance on the LORD makes you firm, and trust in his prophets opens a way toward success. In Hebrew, “believe” and “be established” share the same root, so trust carries the sense of becoming steadfast, not merely agreeing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that trust is merely an inward opinion, with no bearing on your footing or direction, dissolves here.
THE ROOT
הַאֲמִינוּ
ha'aminu
GROWS FROM
אמן
ʾ-m-n
Firm, reliable, steady.
“Lean your full weight upon” in this verse is ha'aminu. The Hebrew uses forms of אמן for both “believe” and “be established.” What English separates into trust and its result, the shared root holds together: trust is linked to becoming steady.
ALSO GROWS
ʾamen: Amen; truly, firmly.
אָמֵן
The familiar affirmation carries the sense of what is firm and trustworthy.
ʾemunah: Firmness, faithfulness, trustworthiness.
אֱמוּנָה
This branch shows trust as a quality of reliability and steadiness, not just agreement.
וְהַצְלִיחוּ
ve-hatzlichu
GROWS FROM
צלח
ṣ-l-ḥ
Advance, succeed, make progress.
“break through” in this verse is ve-hatzlichu. The word translated “prosper” comes from צלח, a root associated with advancing and succeeding. Beside אמן, it links firm footing with forward movement: trust steadies you, and the path opens toward success.
ALSO GROWS
ṣālaḥ: Advance, succeed, make progress.
צָלַח
The basic verb gives prosperity a sense of movement toward an outcome.
hiṣlîaḥ: Cause to succeed, bring about success.
הִצְלִיחַ
This causative form shows how the root can describe success taking effect.
THE PATTERN
Trust in a reliable word gives people firm footing and carries them toward its fulfillment.
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not be steady, surely you shall not be made steady.A Song of degrees. Those who lean their full weight upon the LORD are like Mount Zion, which does not totter, but sits for the ages.By trust Sara herself received strength for the laying down of seed, beyond the season of her life, since she judged him steady who had promised.THE THREAD
And he leaned his weight on the LORD, and he counted it to him as alignment.The verb translated “believed” comes from אמן, the same root that joins “believe” to “be established” in 2 Chronicles 20:20. Together, the verses link trust with becoming firmly grounded.
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