What Does 2 Chronicles 30:25 Mean?
And all the assembly of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly that came from Israel, and the sojourners who came from the land of Israel, and who settled in Judah, rejoiced.
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 all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.THE KEY
Resident outsiders stand inside the verse’s “all”: one joy gathers Judah, Israel, priests, Levites, and sojourners.
THE MEANING
Shared joy gathers people whose origins and roles differ. The word “all” holds Judah, Israel, priests, Levites, and the sojourners living in Judah inside the same rejoicing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that joy with God’s people belongs only to those of one lineage or religious role.
THE ROOT
הַגֵּרִים
haggerim
GROWS FROM
גור
גּוּר (gur): to sojourn or dwell among others as a resident outsider.
English “strangers” can sound like people merely passing through, while the root carries the sense of residing among a people. The verse makes that belonging concrete: these sojourners dwell in Judah and share in its joy.
ALSO GROWS
ger: A resident sojourner or outsider living among a people.
גֵּר
This noun names the people included in the rejoicing.
gur: To sojourn or dwell among others.
גּוּר
The verb’s sense of residence echoes the verse’s statement that these people dwell in Judah.
קָהָל
qahal
GROWS FROM
קהל
קָהַל (qahal): to gather or assemble.
“assembly” in this verse is qahal. The congregation is a gathered people, and the verse names distinct groups within that gathering. Their different origins and roles remain visible while they share one response.
ALSO GROWS
qahal: An assembly or gathered community.
קָהָל
The verse twice names a whole congregation, drawing Judah and Israel into the same account.
haqhel: Gather or assemble.
הַקְהֵל
This verbal form keeps the root’s movement of bringing people together in view.
וַיִּשְׂמְחוּ
vayismechu
GROWS FROM
שׂמח
שָׂמַח (samach): to rejoice or be glad.
“rejoiced” in this verse is vayismechu. The same rejoicing embraces every group named in the verse; joy is not assigned to one lineage or role. Its shared form makes the gathering’s many identities part of one response.
ALSO GROWS
simchah: Joy or rejoicing.
שִׂמְחָה
The noun names the joy expressed here by the gathered people.
sameach: Glad or joyful.
שָׂמֵחַ
This related form describes the state of gladness shared by the congregation.
THE PATTERN
Shared joy gathers people across lineage, role, and social standing into one celebration.
And you shall rejoice before the face of the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite within your gates, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are in your midst, in the place the LORD your God has chosen to settle his name there.And again he says, Rejoice, you nations, with his people.And they, holding fast day by day with one passion in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, took their food with gladness and singleness of heart.THE THREAD
And you shall rejoice before the face of the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite within your gates, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are in your midst, in the place the LORD your God has chosen to settle his name there.Both verses use the Hebrew root שׂמח (samach), “rejoice,” for a celebration shared across different roles and origins. Deuteronomy also names the stranger among those rejoicing, opening the inclusion in Chronicles into a wider circle.
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