What Does 2 Kings 23:25 Mean?
And like him there was no king before him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his living soul and with all his might, according to all the instruction of Moses. Nor after him did any like him rise.
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 like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.THE KEY
This verse measures greatness by the completeness of a return: every part of the self turns toward the LORD under instruction.
THE MEANING
A return to the LORD gathers the choosing heart, the living soul, and the whole measure of strength into one direction. The instruction associated with Moses gives that direction its shape. The verse speaks of wholeness as a life aligned all the way through.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a turn toward God is only an inward feeling: here, heart, living soul, and strength move together, and the movement is shaped by instruction.
THE ROOT
שָׁב
shav from shuv
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
To turn back or return.
“turned” in this verse is shav from shuv. The word carries the motion of returning, not merely an inward change of mind. With its direction named, “unto the LORD”, the verb gathers heart, living soul, and strength into one reorientation.
ALSO GROWS
yashuv: He will return.
יָשׁוּב
This form carries the same directional movement, showing that return is an action, not just a label.
meshubah: Turning away; backsliding.
מְשׁוּבָה
The root can describe departure as well as return, so the direction of the turn matters.
תּוֹרַת
torat
GROWS FROM
יָרָה
yarah
To point or direct; to instruct or teach.
The verse’s “law” is Torah, instruction that gives the return its direction. The turn is shaped by a way that points toward the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
torah: Instruction.
תּוֹרָה
This is the word translated “law”; its sense of instruction makes the return a directed way of life.
moreh: Teacher; instructor.
מוֹרֶה
The related word for an instructor connects teaching with pointing the way.
מֹשֶׁה
Moshe
GROWS FROM
מָשָׁה
mashah
To draw out.
The instruction named through Moses carries the name of one drawn out of water. That name brings a movement from being held in danger toward being brought out into view.
ALSO GROWS
mashah: To draw out.
מָשָׁה
This verb is the root behind the name Moses.
meshitihu: I drew him out.
מְשִׁיתִהוּ
In Exodus 2:10, this form explains the name Moses through the act of drawing him out of the water.
THE PATTERN
Whole-person devotion is a return whose direction is shaped by God’s instruction.
And you shall turn back to the LORD your God, and you shall hear and respond to his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your living soul.And he answered, saying, You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole living soul and from your whole strength and from your whole mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.THE THREAD
Let the wicked leave his way, and the man of crookedness his plans. Let him turn back to the LORD, and he will have compassion on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly release.The same root שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) appears in “let him return unto the LORD.” Isaiah places that return beside forsaking a way and thoughts, showing the turn as a reorientation of the whole course of life.
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