What Does 2 Chronicles 30:20 Mean?
And the LORD heard and responded to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
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 LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.THE KEY
The LORD’s hearing is active: one appeal becomes healing for a whole people.
THE MEANING
The LORD hears Hezekiah’s appeal, and healing reaches the people. The verse speaks now of care that receives a plea and extends restoration beyond the one who voices it.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁמַע
wayyišmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
hear, listen, heed
“heard and responded” in this verse is wayyišmaʿ. Here, hearkening is more than sound reaching the ear: the root can mean heeding and responding. The next verb shows the reach of that response: healing comes to the people.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: hear; listen and respond
שְׁמַע
The imperative form makes hearing an active reception, echoing the LORD’s response in this verse.
mishmaʿat: obedience; submission
מִשְׁמַעַת
This branch carries hearing into action, illuminating how the LORD’s hearkening is answered by restoration.
וַיִּרְפָּא
wayirpa
GROWS FROM
רפא
heal, restore to health
“healed” in this verse is wayirpa. The verb belongs to the root רָפָא (rapha), the seed of healing and restoration. It echoes the sound of רָפָה (raphah, loosen or release), a distinct root with a different final letter; that echo can suggest healing as loosening constriction without confusing the roots.
ALSO GROWS
rophe: healer; physician
רֹפֵא
The healer is named by the same root as the act reaching the people here.
marpe: healing; remedy
מַרְפֵּא
This branch names healing itself, showing the people receive restoration rather than mere acknowledgment.
יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ
Yeḥizqiyyahu
GROWS FROM
חזק
be strong; strengthen
Hezekiah’s name carries the sense “YHWH strengthens.” The name of the one whose appeal is heard already holds the nature of strengthening, which the verse’s healing extends to the people.
ALSO GROWS
ḥazaq: be strong; strengthen
חָזַק
This is the strength-root embedded in Hezekiah’s name.
Yeḥizqiyyahu: Hezekiah; YHWH strengthens
יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ
The name’s nature echoes the restoration that reaches the people in the verse.
THE PATTERN
A plea or hearing received by God opens into restoration for the people it touches.
He sends his word and heals them, and slips them free from their pits.Therefore I did not count myself weighty enough to come to you, but say a word, and my servant will be healed.THE THREAD
O LORD my God, I cried out to you, and you healed me.The Hebrew uses the same root, רפא (rapha), for healing in both verses. Psalm 30 shows the cry and healing together; here, the appeal comes through another person and its reach extends to the people.
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