What Does 2 Chronicles 20:32 Mean?
And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was straight in the eyes of the LORD.
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 he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.THE KEY
Here, rightness is not a detached verdict: it is a straight course made visible by the steps you keep taking.
THE MEANING
This verse meets you in the direction your life is taking now: the path becomes visible through what you continue to do and where you do not turn aside. Rightness is presented as a sustained course lived within the LORD’s sight.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that rightness is proved by one admirable act or private conviction; here it appears as a course that remains straight before the LORD.
THE ROOT
דֶּרֶךְ
derek
GROWS FROM
דרך
d-r-k
To tread or step; a track or way formed by treading.
Derek shares its root with darak, to tread: the “way” is inseparable from the act of walking it. The Hebrew word carries the track traced by actual steps, so the way Asa walked is a lived pattern, not just an idea.
ALSO GROWS
darak: Tread, step.
דָּרַךְ
The action of treading shares the root of “way,” joining the path to the steps that make it.
midrakh: Footstep, footing.
מִדְרָךְ
This branch makes the path tangible: it is ground marked by where feet have gone.
וַיֵּלֶךְ
wayyelekh
GROWS FROM
הלך
halak
To walk, go, or proceed.
“walked” in this verse is wayyelekh. The verb describes motion: a life is expressed through where it keeps going. Alongside “way” and “departed not,” it presents a continuing course rather than a single moment.
ALSO GROWS
halikhah: Walking, going.
הֲלִיכָה
The noun keeps the focus on movement as an ongoing act.
mahalakh: Course, progression.
מַהֲלָךְ
This branch carries walking into the larger course a life follows.
הַיָּשָׁר
hayyashar
GROWS FROM
ישר
yashar
To be straight, level, or upright.
Yashar carries the sense of straightness and uprightness; related words refer to level ground and equity. “Right” here evokes a course that is straight before the LORD’s eyes, holding direction and divine seeing together.
ALSO GROWS
mishor: Level place, plain.
מִישׁוֹר
The level ground in this branch gives straightness a concrete shape.
meysharim: Equity, uprightness.
מֵישָׁרִים
This branch connects straightness with what is equitable and upright.
THE PATTERN
A life takes its shape through a direction repeatedly walked and held to what is straight before God.
Flourishing is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of those who miss the mark, nor sit in the seat of the scoffers.Level the track of your feet, and let all your ways stand firm.The one who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk, just as that one walked.THE THREAD
And Asa did what was straight in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.The phrase “right in the eyes of the LORD” uses the same Hebrew root, yashar, for straightness and uprightness. The earlier verse describes Asa by that same measure; this verse shows Jehoshaphat walking in the way of his father.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us