What Does 2 Kings 13:23 Mean?
And the LORD showed them favor, and had compassion on them, and turned his face toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not ruin them, nor cast them from his face as yet.
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 was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.THE KEY
The verse pictures compassion as the LORD turning toward a people and keeping them before his face while their danger remains.
THE MEANING
Your unresolved trouble is not proof that the LORD has turned away from you. Here compassion means he turns toward you because of covenant and does not cast you from his presence. The words “as yet” keep the verse honest: the danger remains, even as abandonment is withheld.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that trouble still being present means the LORD has already turned away.
THE ROOT
וַיִּפֶן
wayyifen
GROWS FROM
פנה
To turn, face, or direct oneself toward.
“turned his face toward them” in this verse is wayyifen. The verse pictures the LORD turning toward them. Its closing image says he does not cast them from before his face, holding regard and continued presence together.
ALSO GROWS
panim: Face; presence.
פָּנִים
The verse says they are not cast away from before his face, echoing the act of turning toward them.
pinnah: Corner; extremity or turning point.
פִּנָּה
The same root’s turning imagery gives the verse’s movement a direction: the LORD faces toward them rather than away.
וַיְרַחֲמֵם
wayraḥămēm
GROWS FROM
רחם
To show compassion or tender regard.
“had compassion” in this verse is wayraḥămēm. This root’s word family includes both compassion and the womb, giving the word a bodily depth. Here that tenderness appears alongside covenant and the refusal to cast the people away.
ALSO GROWS
reḥem: Womb.
רֶחֶם
This branch shows the bodily tenderness associated with the same root family as compassion.
raḥum: Compassionate; tenderly merciful.
רַחוּם
It names the compassionate quality that the verse shows through the LORD’s action toward them.
raḥamim: Compassion; tender mercies.
רַחֲמִים
This plural form keeps the verse’s compassion concrete as tender regard, not mere acknowledgment.
THE PATTERN
Covenant holds compassion and continued regard in place even while danger and unfinished repair remain.
For the LORD your God is a compassionate God, and he will not let go of you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers, which he swore to them.But in your many compassions you did not let them run out, nor did you leave them, for you are a God of favor and compassion.To make faithful love with our fathers, and to remember his set-apart covenant;THE THREAD
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will call out the name of the LORD before you. I will favor whom I favor, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.The same Hebrew roots appear here as graciousness and compassion: חנן (ḥanan, show favor) and רחם (raḥam, show compassion). Exodus places these qualities beside the LORD’s name; 2 Kings shows them enacted as the people remain before his face.
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