What Does 2 Kings 13:6 Mean?
Nevertheless they did not turn aside from the falling short of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel miss the mark, but walked in it. And the Asherah pole also remained in Samaria.
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
Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)THE KEY
The same root names both Israel’s “sins” and what Jeroboam causes, so one person’s missing becomes a path a whole people walk.
THE MEANING
Wherever a miss becomes a path, repeated steps keep it active while its supports can remain standing. The verse places the continued walk beside the Asherah still standing in Samaria, showing how a pattern persists both in practice and in what remains in place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that recognizing a pattern is the same as leaving it; the verse shows the steps continuing and the Asherah still standing.
THE ROOT
חַטָּאוֹת
chatta’ot
GROWS FROM
חטא
ḥ-ṭ-ʾ
To miss or fail.
“falling short” in this verse is chatta’ot. The verse uses this root for Israel’s “sins” and, in a causative form, for what Jeroboam does: he causes Israel to miss. Then the people walk in that same missing, so it becomes an ongoing path rather than a single act.
ALSO GROWS
chata’: To miss or fail.
חָטָא
This verb is the seed behind both the plural “sins” and the causative action in the verse.
hecheti: To cause someone to miss.
הֶחֱטִיא
This causative form appears in “made Israel sin,” showing how one person’s missing can become a shared pattern.
THE PATTERN
A miss can spread from one source into a shared path and persist through repetition.
They shall not settle in your land, lest they make you miss the mark against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.Because of the shortcomings of Jeroboam, which he did, and with which he caused Israel to miss the mark, by the provocation with which he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.A little leaven leavens the whole kneaded mass.THE THREAD
Because of the shortcomings of Jeroboam, which he did, and with which he caused Israel to miss the mark, by the provocation with which he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.This verse repeats the root חטא (ḥ-ṭ-ʾ), “to miss,” in “sins,” “he sinned,” and “he made Israel sin.” It makes the pattern in 2 Kings plain: Jeroboam’s missing becomes a path Israel keeps walking.
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