What Does 2 Chronicles 32:7 Mean?
Take hold and be braced. Do not fear, and do not be shattered from the face of the king of Assyria, nor from the face of all the roaring multitude that is with him, for more are with us than with him.
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
Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:THE KEY
The decisive count includes the presence the threat cannot count.
THE MEANING
The threat may arrive as a multitude, but its size does not account for everyone with you. Courage here sees the whole company present without pretending the opposing force is small.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a threat’s visible numbers settle who has the greater strength.
THE ROOT
רַב
rav
GROWS FROM
רבב
rabab
To be many or great; abundance.
The word translated “more” carries the sense of abundance or multitude. The verse’s count turns on who is present with you, not only on the force visible against you.
ALSO GROWS
rav: Much, many, or great.
רַב
This is the form used for “more” in the verse, making abundance the center of the comparison.
revavot: Myriads or tens of thousands.
רְבָבוֹת
This branch shows the root reaching into language for immense numbers, echoing the verse’s contrast with a multitude.
חִזְקוּ
chizqu
GROWS FROM
חזק
chazaq
To be strong, firm, or prevail.
“take hold” in this verse is chizqu. The command to be strong is rooted in firmness. In this verse, strength stands alongside the changed count: the opposing multitude remains real, yet it is not the whole measure of power.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: To become strong or firm; to prevail.
חָזַק
This basic form shows the firmness named at the start of the verse.
chizzeq: To strengthen or make firm.
חִזֵּק
This form carries the same root from being firm toward strengthening, deepening the verse’s language of courage.
THE PATTERN
The visible size of the opposition does not measure the full presence standing with you.
The LORD is at my side; I do not fear. What can humankind do to me?Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not look about in dismay, for I am your God. I will grip you, and I will help you, and I will hold you up with the right hand of my alignment.What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?THE THREAD
And he answered, Do not fear, for those with us are more than those with them.This verse repeats the same startling count: “they that be with us are more.” In 2 Chronicles, רַב (rav) means abundance; 2 Kings uses רַבִּים (rabbim), “many,” from the same root, joining the two verses in Hebrew.
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