What Does 2 Chronicles 20:6 Mean?
And he said, O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in the heavens? Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Is there not strength and might in your hand, so that none can stand against you?
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 said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?THE KEY
Every kingdom is held within one hand, and no rival can establish a stand against its rule.
THE MEANING
Every power that claims to rule is already within God’s governance. The might named here is in God’s hand, and no rival can establish a position against that rule. The threat facing you now is not ultimate or beyond God’s reach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that the power confronting you is ultimate and can stand beyond God’s reach.
THE ROOT
מַמְלְכוֹת
mamlekhot
GROWS FROM
מלך
To be king, rule, or reign.
“Kingdoms” grows from the same root as “king” and “reign”: the verse gathers every human kingship under one rule. What looks like many separate centers of power is held within God’s governance.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: King.
מֶלֶךְ
The kingdoms named here are realms of kingship, and every one is within God’s rule.
malakh: To reign or become king.
מָלַךְ
This verb makes the verse’s claim active: God reigns over all the kingdoms.
malkhut: Kingship, royalty, or kingdom.
מַלְכוּת
This noun shows the shared root behind the rule itself and the realms being ruled.
גְּבוּרָה
gevurah
GROWS FROM
גבר
To be strong or prevail.
The word for might carries the sense of strength that prevails. It sits beside “power” in God’s hand, while the verse says no opposing force can hold its ground.
ALSO GROWS
gavar: To grow strong or prevail.
גָּבַר
It shows might as the capacity to prevail, not merely strength held in reserve.
gibbor: A mighty one or warrior.
גִּבּוֹר
The same root names one who possesses might, clarifying the force gathered in God’s hand.
THE PATTERN
Human authority cannot establish itself as equal to God’s governance.
The LORD breaks the counsel of nations; he undoes the plans of peoples.There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel facing the LORD.What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?THE THREAD
And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, take your stand, and see the deliverance of the LORD, which he will do for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again for the ages.Both verses use the yatsav root for taking a stand. Here no opposing power can establish its position against God; in Exodus, the people are told to stand and witness deliverance, so God’s rule becomes ground from which you can see what prevails.
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