What Does 2 Chronicles 34:21 Mean?
Go, seek the LORD for me, and for those who remain in Israel and in Judah, about the words of the scroll that is found. For great is the burning anger of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers did not guard the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this scroll.
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
Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.THE KEY
Recovering the book does not erase the breach: the revealed word shows whether it has been guarded.
THE MEANING
The found words disclose a rupture: the community carries the consequence of not keeping what was entrusted, and the LORD’s wrath is poured out upon us. The appeal to inquire brings that inherited failure before the LORD.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that neglect by those before us has no consequences for the living now.
THE ROOT
שָׁמְרוּ
shamru
GROWS FROM
ש־מ־ר
sh-m-r
Guard, watch over, keep.
“did not guard the word of the LORD” in this verse is shamru. The root of “kept” carries the sense of guarding and watching, alongside keeping. Its branches include a watchman and a charge kept in custody, giving the verse’s failure the added shade of a word left unguarded in practice.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: One who keeps watch or guards.
שֹׁמֵר
The watchman’s vigilance shows the attentiveness contained in keeping the LORD’s word.
mishmeret: A custody, charge, or assigned duty to keep.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch links keeping to being entrusted with something and remaining responsible for it.
דִּרְשׁוּ
dirshu
GROWS FROM
ד־ר־שׁ
d-r-sh
Seek, inquire, search out.
“seek the LORD for me” in this verse is dirshu. The request is to seek the LORD concerning the words that have been found. This root’s family includes inquiry and exposition, linking the act of seeking with working to understand what the uncovered words say.
ALSO GROWS
midrash: Inquiry, study, or exposition.
מִדְרָשׁ
It connects seeking with examining and interpreting what has been found.
darshan: One who expounds or interprets.
דַּרְשָׁן
This branch shows the path from inquiry toward understanding the book’s words.
THE PATTERN
Instruction becomes a living possession through keeping, and its absence is exposed when the written word is recovered.
You shall guard closely the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.Keep my commandments and live, and my instruction as the pupil of your eye.Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, that one will guard my word, and my Father will love that one, and we will come to him and make a place to remain with him.THE THREAD
How does a young man cleanse his way? By guarding it according to your word.The Hebrew behind “taking heed” is לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, to keep or guard), from the same ש־מ־ר (sh-m-r) root as “kept” here. This links guarding the word with the way a person walks according to it.
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