What Does 2 Chronicles 25:20 Mean?
But Amaziah would not hear and respond, for it came from God, that he would give them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.
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 Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.THE KEY
Here, hearing is a response: Amaziah refuses it while the people pursue other gods, and God gives them into enemy hands.
THE MEANING
Refusing a warning is not a neutral pause: attention is withheld from one voice while pursuit is given to another. The verse holds a hard claim in view, God gives them into their enemies’ hands, and their pursuit of Edom’s gods is named as the reason. The exposure that follows is left plain.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that refusing to hear leaves a person untouched is undone here: what is pursued and what is rejected are bound to an outcome.
THE ROOT
שָׁמַע
shāmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear, listen to, or heed what is heard.
“would not hear and respond” in this verse is shāmaʿ. Amaziah’s failure is not lack of access to information but refusal to receive and respond. The same root appears in Israel’s “Hear” (שְׁמַע, shema, hear and respond), so hearing here carries the weight of answerable attention.
ALSO GROWS
shomea: One who hears or listens
שֹׁמֵעַ
The verse turns on whether Amaziah will be a hearer who receives the warning.
shema: Hear; listen and respond
שְׁמַע
This familiar command form shows that hearing in Hebrew can include the response the verse says Amaziah withholds.
דָּרְשׁוּ
darshu
GROWS FROM
דרש
Seek, inquire, or pursue.
“sought after” in this verse is darshu. The verb describes active pursuit, not accidental contact. The verse sets this search beside refused hearing: one voice is shut out while the gods of Edom receive the people’s seeking.
ALSO GROWS
darash: To seek or inquire
דָּרַשׁ
This verb names the active searching carried by “sought after.”
midrash: Inquiry or exposition
מִדְרָשׁ
This related word preserves the sense of an engaged search, showing that darash is more than passive awareness.
תִּתָּם
tittām
GROWS FROM
נתן
Give, set, or place.
The Hebrew form comes from נתן, “give” or “place”: the clause pictures them being given into their enemies’ hands. That concrete wording keeps the verse’s direct attribution to God in view.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give or place
נָתַן
This is the verb’s root sense and makes the handover in the verse concrete.
mattanah: A gift or thing given
מַתָּנָה
This related form carries the same root of giving, clarifying the action behind the English “deliver.”
THE PATTERN
Hearing in Scripture is a responsive orientation that shapes the path a person follows.
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.And Samuel said, Does the LORD delight in rising offerings and slaughtered offerings as much as in hearing and responding to the voice of the LORD? Behold, hearing and responding is better than a slaughtered offering; to prick the ear is better than the fat of rams.Therefore, as the Set-Apart Breath says, Today, if you will hear and respond to his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the embittering, in the day of the testing in the wilderness,THE THREAD
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.The same Hebrew root, שמע (shamaʿ, hear, listen, heed), appears in both Deuteronomy’s “Hear” and Amaziah’s “would not hear.” The connection makes the refusal more than missing information: the word he shuts out calls for a response.
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