What Does 1 Chronicles 1:47 Mean in the King James?
And when Hadad was dead, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The king dies, but kingship remains a seat another person can occupy.
THE MEANING
One ruler is gone, and another takes his place: the office continues while the person who holds it is temporary. The verse lets death and succession stand side by side without softening either.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that a ruler’s death ends the rule itself: the person passes, and the position continues.
THE ROOT
וַיִּמְלֹךְ
wayyimlōkh
GROWS FROM
מלך
To be king, reign, or exercise rule.
“reigned” in this verse is wayyimlōkh. The verb for reigning shares its root with the word for king and the word for kingship or kingdom. English separates ruler, act, and realm; Hebrew holds them in one word family, showing how the reign can continue beyond the individual ruler.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: King
מֶלֶךְ
The person who rules comes from the same root as the act of reigning.
malkhut: Kingship, kingdom, or realm
מַלְכוּת
The realm or office of rule shares the king’s root, making it possible for one holder to die while kingship carries on.
תַּחְתָּיו
taḥtāw
GROWS FROM
תחת
Under or beneath; also in the place of another.
“in his stead” in this verse is taḥtāw. “Stead” sounds like an abstract replacement, while the Hebrew retains the sense of position: the next ruler stands beneath or in the place of the former one. Succession is pictured as taking up the place the dead king leaves.
ALSO GROWS
taḥat: Under, beneath, or instead of
תַּחַת
Its spatial sense gives “in his stead” the image of occupying a position left open.
taḥtāw: Under him; in his place
תַּחְתָּיו
This is the form used in the verse, joining succession directly to the former ruler’s position.
THE PATTERN
Mortal authority changes hands: death and the turning of times make room for another holder of the office.
And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:THE THREAD
And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.This verse uses the same Hebrew construction for “reigned in his stead”: the root מלך (M-L-K; malak), meaning to reign, followed by תַּחְתָּיו (taḥtāw), meaning “in his place.” The repeated wording makes succession a recurring pattern: the ruler passes, and another occupies the place.
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