What Does 2 Chronicles 24:12 Mean?
And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of serving the house of the LORD, and hired cutters and carvers to strengthen the house of the LORD, and also those who work iron and bronze, to strengthen it.
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 the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD.THE KEY
The Hebrew names repair as two acts together: making the house new and making it strong.
THE MEANING
The verse shows resources passing to people who renew and strengthen the LORD’s house through skilled labor. Its wording joins funding, craft, and service in one act: what is made new is also made firm.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Repair is only a surface touch-up; the verse describes both renewal and reinforcement.
THE ROOT
לְחַדֵּשׁ
leḥaddēsh
GROWS FROM
חדש
New; to make new or renew.
The verb translated “repair” means “to make new.” Restoration here carries the sense of renewal, while the verse’s second repair verb adds the distinct work of strengthening.
ALSO GROWS
ḥadash: New.
חָדָשׁ
The adjective makes the renewal within “repair” visible: the work brings newness to the house.
ḥodesh: New moon; month.
חֹדֶשׁ
This related word links renewal with the return of a new cycle, adding a sense of fresh beginning to the work.
לְחַזֵּק
leḥazzēq
GROWS FROM
חזק
To be strong or firm; to strengthen.
“strengthen” in this verse is leḥazzēq. The second verb names reinforcement: restoration gives the house firmness as well as newness. English “repair” and “mend” carry two Hebrew actions side by side, renewing and strengthening.
ALSO GROWS
ḥazaq: Strong; firm.
חָזָק
This adjective shows the condition the repair aims to give the house: strength and firmness.
ḥazaqah: Strength; firmness.
חֲזָקָה
The noun form echoes the work of making the house strong, not merely covering damage.
עֲבוֹדַת
ʿavodat
GROWS FROM
עבד
To work or serve.
The passage calls this skilled labor “the work of the service” of the house. Service and handwork meet in the same scene: repairing the building is itself part of serving it.
ALSO GROWS
ʿavodah: Work; service.
עֲבוֹדָה
This noun appears in the verse’s phrase for the service of the house, binding labor to service.
ʿeved: Servant; worker.
עֶבֶד
The related word for a servant shows the same root linking service with work performed.
THE PATTERN
A shared work takes shape when provision meets skilled hands and their labor serves a larger structure.
He has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the carver, and of the designer, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any work, and of those who devise designs.They gave silver also unto the cutters and the carvers, and food, and drink, and oil, unto them of Sidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the permission they had from Cyrus king of Persia.According to the favor of God that was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one watch how he builds on it.THE THREAD
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steady breath within me.The word translated “renew” is חַדֵּשׁ (ḥaddēsh, “renew”), from the same root חדש (ḥadash, “new; renew”) as the word translated “repair” here. The same root names restoration of the house and renewal within the reader.
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