What Does 2 Chronicles 24:20 Mean?
And the breath of God clothed Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, Thus says God, Why do you cross over the commandments of the LORD, and will not break through? Because you have let go of the LORD, he has also let go of 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 the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.THE KEY
God’s breath (רוּחַ, ruach, “breath”) clothes Zechariah (זְכַרְיָה, Zekharyah, “YHWH remembers”), giving the rebuke a voice wrapped in divine presence.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now of a bond whose breach reaches both sides: crossing the LORD’s commands and leaving the LORD close the path to flourishing, and the abandonment is returned. Zechariah’s name, זְכַרְיָה (Zekharyah, “YHWH remembers”), sets remembrance beside this rupture.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that turning away from the LORD leaves the relationship and the path to flourishing unchanged.
THE ROOT
לָבְשָׁה
lavshah
GROWS FROM
לבש
to clothe, to wear
The form לָבְשָׁה (lavshah, “clothed”) gives the arrival another layer: God’s breath (רוּחַ, ruach, “breath”) is pictured clothing Zechariah as he speaks. The presence is not only upon him; it is something he wears.
ALSO GROWS
levush: clothing, garment
לְבוּשׁ
This noun keeps the garment image present in the verb translated “came upon.”
malbush: garment, item of clothing
מַלְבּוּשׁ
Its concrete sense makes the verse’s image of divine breath clothing a speaker vivid.
עֹבְרִים
ʿoverim
GROWS FROM
עבר
to pass over, to cross
“cross over” in this verse is ʿoverim. The charge pictures disobedience as crossing over the LORD’s commands. Set beside the question about whether they can prosper, that crossing is linked to a blocked way forward.
ALSO GROWS
ever: across, the other side
עֵבֶר
It carries the spatial sense of crossing to the far side that remains inside “transgress.”
ma’avar: passage, crossing
מַעֲבָר
This noun makes the root’s movement explicit: transgression is pictured as a crossing.
תַצְלִיחוּ
tatslichu
GROWS FROM
צלח
to succeed, advance, come through
“break through” in this verse is tatslichu. The Hebrew verb can carry the sense of succeeding or advancing, adding movement to “prosper.” The verse places that blocked advance directly beside the act of crossing the LORD’s commands.
ALSO GROWS
matsliach: succeeding, prospering
מַצְלִיחַ
This form describes one who is succeeding, keeping the root’s forward movement in view.
hatslachah: success, prosperity
הַצְלָחָה
The noun names the successful outcome the verse says they cannot reach.
THE PATTERN
Flourishing remains joined to its source: when that bond is abandoned, the path bears no fruit.
And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear and respond to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you, while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you let go of him, he will let go of you.And he becomes like a tree planted by the channels of the waters, that gives its fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; whatever he does, he breaks through.I am the vine, and you are the branches. The one who remains in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.THE THREAD
But the breath of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he blew the ram's horn, and Abiezer was gathered behind him.Both passages use לָבְשָׁה (lavshah, “clothed”) for God’s breath coming upon a person, though the KJV renders the image as “came upon.” Gideon sounds a trumpet and Zechariah speaks: each becomes a human voice through which that breath moves outward.
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