What Does 2 Kings 12:14 Mean?
But they gave it to the workers, and strengthened the house of the LORD with it.
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 they gave that to the workmen, and repaired therewith the house of the LORD.THE KEY
What is given to the workers becomes strength in the house they repair.
THE MEANING
Resources placed in the hands of those doing the work become strength in the place that needs repair. The house is made firm through what reaches its workers. Restoration takes shape as provision passes into action.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that what is released simply disappears: here, what reaches the workers becomes strength in the house.
THE ROOT
וְחִזְּקוּ
veḥizzequ
GROWS FROM
חזק
be strong; strengthen, make firm
The Hebrew verb means they strengthened the house with what they received. Repair here is the transfer of strength into the structure, not just a surface fix.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: strong
חָזָק
The same root names the firmness the repaired house gains.
heḥeziq: to hold fast, support, strengthen
הֶחֱזִיק
This branch links making something firm with actively holding it in place.
יִתְּנֻהוּ
yittenuhu
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
“gave” in this verse is yittenuhu. The giving is also a placing: the resources are put into the workers’ hands for a purpose. The verse connects the destination of what is given with the strength it produces.
ALSO GROWS
natan: to give, set, place
נָתַן
The verse’s verb carries the sense of placing resources where the work happens.
mattanah: gift, present
מַתָּנָה
A gift becomes part of the repair when it reaches the people doing the work.
THE PATTERN
What is willingly given for sacred work becomes restoration through the hands of those who build.
The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman whose heart made them free-hearted to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.Then the people rejoiced, for they offered willingly, because with a whole heart they offered willingly to the LORD, and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.For we are fellow workers with God. You are God's field; you are God's building.THE THREAD
And all those around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was freely given.The shared root חזק (chazaq, strengthen or make firm) traces strength from resources to workers’ hands and then to the house they repair. In Ezra, people strengthen the builders’ hands with goods; here, the workers strengthen the house with what they receive.
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