What Does 2 Chronicles 21:13 Mean?
But you have walked in the path of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the ones settled in Jerusalem go whoring, like the whorings of the house of Ahab, and you have also killed your brothers of your father's house, who were better than 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
But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:THE KEY
From copied path to a people drawn into unfaithfulness to the killing of his own brothers, the verse shows a ruler’s choices reaching far beyond himself.
THE MEANING
A path chosen in power reaches beyond its chooser: it draws a people into unfaithfulness and turns violence against the ruler’s own family. The verse names the murdered brothers as better than he was, leaving no ambiguity about who bears the harm.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A ruler’s chosen way stays private and cannot shape what a people are made to practice.
THE ROOT
דֶּרֶךְ
derek
GROWS FROM
דרך
to tread, step
The word for “way” is connected to the act of treading: a way is a course marked by steps. The kings’ way is therefore a practiced path, one that can be followed and imposed on others.
ALSO GROWS
darakh: to tread or step
דָּרַךְ
It reveals the movement beneath “way”: a path is made by steps taken along it.
dorekh: one who treads
דֹּרֵךְ
The same root gives the image of someone actively making a path, fitting the verse’s focus on a ruler whose conduct shapes others.
זָנָה
zanah
GROWS FROM
זנה
to commit prostitution; figuratively, to be unfaithful
“whorings” in this verse is zanah. The verse uses sexual language for Judah’s collective unfaithfulness. The root keeps that charged image visible: the king does not merely adopt a pattern himself, but draws a people into it.
ALSO GROWS
zonah: a prostitute
זוֹנָה
This branch preserves the concrete sexual image carried by the root.
zenunim: prostitution or acts of unfaithfulness
זְנוּנִים
The same root names the “whoredoms” associated with Ahab’s house, joining the king’s influence to a wider pattern of disloyalty.
THE PATTERN
A leader’s chosen path can spread through those under their influence, making private conduct a shared pattern.
And he shall give Israel over because of the shortcomings of Jeroboam, who missed the mark and who caused Israel to miss the mark.Let them go. They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.Do not wander; bad company rots good habits.THE THREAD
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his falling short with which he caused Israel to miss the mark.The word translated “walked” comes from הלך (halakh), “to walk, go,” the same root used for “walked” in this verse. Here, as in 2 Chronicles, a ruler follows a path and then makes a people share its pattern.
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