What Does 2 Kings 21:14 Mean?
And I will let go of the remnant of my inheritance, and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become prey and spoil to all their enemies.
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 I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;THE KEY
The verse’s pivot is the act of giving: abandonment places the remnant inside its enemies’ hands.
THE MEANING
The verse confronts you with a terrible exposure: what is named as inheritance is abandoned, placed in enemy hands, and made prey and plunder. It does not soften that violence or hide what forsaking means.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that being claimed as an inheritance guarantees continued protection is undone here: the one who calls them his inheritance also says he will forsake them.
THE ROOT
וּנְתַתִּים
u-netattim
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
The verb translated “deliver” comes from נתן (natan, to give, set, or place). The verse presents the handover as placement: the remnant is put within the reach of its enemies.
ALSO GROWS
nittan: be given, be placed
נִתַּן
This form makes the receiving side of the transfer visible: what is given over comes under another’s power.
mattanah: gift, something given
מַתָּנָה
This noun carries the same seed of giving; here, that transfer is starkly into enemy hands.
שְׁאֵרִית
she'erit
GROWS FROM
שאר
remain, be left
“the remnant” in this verse is she'erit. The root holds the sense of what remains or is left over. The verse’s remnant is not a promise of safety; its name keeps the reader aware that it is what is left, and that even this remainder is abandoned.
ALSO GROWS
nish'ar: remains, is left
נִשְׁאַר
This verb shows the root’s living sense of being what is still there after others or other things are gone.
she'ar: remainder, rest
שְׁאָר
This related form keeps the idea of a remaining portion close to “remnant.”
וְנָטַשְׁתִּי
ve-natashti
GROWS FROM
נטש
abandon, leave behind
“let go of” in this verse is ve-natashti. The verse pairs two different roots in a sharp echo: the remnant is what remains, and God says he will abandon it. The next phrase makes that abandonment concrete by placing the remnant into enemy hands.
ALSO GROWS
nittash: is abandoned, is left behind
נִטַּשׁ
This form turns the act of forsaking into the condition of being left exposed.
natush: forsaken, abandoned
נָטוּשׁ
This related form carries the state produced by the verb in the verse.
THE PATTERN
To be given over is to lose protection and come under another power’s grasp.
And the LORD's anger burned hot against Israel, and he gave them into the hands of those who stripped them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before the faces of their enemies.Therefore God gave them over in the cravings of their hearts into uncleanness, for their bodies to be made weightless among themselves.THE THREAD
He gave them into the hand of the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them.The Hebrew verb נתן (natan, give, set, place) appears in “he gave them into the hand.” The phrase opens up the same movement as the present verse: being given over means being placed where another power can rule.
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